


Of bats, dreams and human connections

by Elizabehta_Beilschmidt



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, I wrote this for me but y'all can read it too, So yeah, bon appétit, look there a lot of shameless fluff my heart wanted to read but couldn't find anywhere, this is my love letter to the fandom, vampire fic no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:09:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25035232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elizabehta_Beilschmidt/pseuds/Elizabehta_Beilschmidt
Summary: Maybe, in retrospective, moving to the middle of nowhere and become a farmer wasn't Liz's smartest idea. The worst part wasn't getting up early or doing housework or meeting new people, no - the worst part was having to bathe in sun cream every morning and pray no one noticed she didn't age or got tired or hurt no matter what.Did I mention that Liz was a vampire? Well, she was. And even if for some she was the stupidest vampire alive, in her defense she just wanted to make new friends. Fortunately for her, the local goth boy of the town may be available.NOTE: This story is almost 100% shameless fluff and good feelings, so while is "unfinished" it is enjoyable as it is. Give it a chance :3
Relationships: Abigail & Player (Stardew Valley), Abigail & Sam & Sebastian (Stardew Valley), Sam & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This happened when I saw [ this post ](https://beansthatscream.tumblr.com/post/619968486139183104/stardew-valley-sebastian-where-the-farmer-is-a)in Tumblr. The rest is history.  
> There's more to come, believe you me.

Moving to Stardew Valley wasn’t exactly at first in Liz’s plans. Who in their right mind came to a sunny village in the middle of nowhere? I mean, if I were to tell you that she inherited her grandfather's farm and she felt like not going anywhere and blah blah blah…

Well, the thing is, Liz wasn’t exactly your city-girl-goes-farming story. Because she is, in fact, a vampire.

The grandfather’s farm part is true, though.

He was human, a man her coven adopted when he was a lonely kid orphaned in a war. She remembered thinking how absurd it was that vampire like them would adopt such weak creatures, but it wasn’t like she cared much about it. With time, she stopped finding her new immortal life so fascinating and started following the strange and humble old man that chose to call her family despite knowing what he did about her world. 

When he died, he left her everything he owned. Including a run down farm in the middle of nowhere, sunny-ville.

Liz breathed deeply, enjoying the cold spring night’s air, one hand scratching her new cat’s chin (maybe she was being cheesy by calling him Lestat, but sue her), looking at the few sprouts growing in the cleared patch she made early in the season.

A farmer vampire. Who would have thought.

At least she didn’t have to eat, so that’s money she saved. Everything she earned would go to the next crop.

It has been around a week since she settled there and getting used to the slow pace everything seemed to go by there was… difficult. She had wanted to leave coven drama behind and try her hand at going solo for a while. Who knows? Maybe she could start a coven of her own-

A family. What she wanted was a family. A real connection, like what she had with grandpa. After so many decades she had forgotten what it felt, how _human_ connections struck deeper than convenient alliances of vampire covens. 

That’s why she wanted this to work. She wanted to feel what grandpa felt for so long, she wanted to make memories like those he shared with her before passing.

An uncomfortable sensation in her mouth reminded her that she needed to feed soon. Her fangs were getting out of control the longer she let herself starve, and the last few days she got away with not appearing around town, but people were going to notice if she let it go too far.

She looked up at the moon and sighed. Lestat jumped out of her lap and meowed softly before going inside to sleep. She should too, but the idea of turning and tossing around, hungry, wasn’t exactly in her top list of things to do all night. This “daytime” vampire thing was hard to get used to, but it was a needed evil.

She got up and decided to go for a walk to see if she could get a bit tired and sleep another night with an empty stomach. Tomorrow she would go to the city and feed, there were many people there and no one would notice a little wound here and there. In a small place like this? Someone would definitely would.

And when they did, every hope of forming a real _human_ connection would go out of the window.

***

Sebastian didn’t know what to think about the new farmer. Sure, he had seen her walking around all dressed in black and with an enormous black parasol, saying something about sensitive skin, and he immediately respected the aesthetic. 

The woman herself? Not so much. She was a mystery, she didn’t seem like she wanted to settle there at all. 

_ Not that I blame her,_ he thought as he took another drag of his cigarette. _I would leave this place as soon as I could. If I could._

He looked back at his house from his position by the lake, the moon shining down on his mother’s fine work on the exterior of the building. Sometimes, when he felt weak and vulnerable, he didn’t want to leave his mother there with Demetrius. He feared what would happen in his absence, what kind of arguments he would use to drag Robin to his side. Would he make her forget about him? About his father? 

Would he matter at all?

Sebastian shook his head, knowing it was silly. If he stayed or left shouldn’t depend on his mother, but his own sanity. 

Finishing his cig, he threw it down and smashed it with his foot, ready to head back in and finish his last project. _Another sleepless night it seems_ , he sighed.

He turned and was about to take a step forward when a sharp pain bloomed in his hand. 

“Shit.” 

He looked down at his hand, and there it was, a fresh new cut in the otherwise clean skin. Damn these trees and their unexpected sharp barks. Whatever, he could find some band-aids before going back to the computer.

He looked up and she was there. The farmer. 

He frowned. He hadn’t heard her approach, and it was a rather quiet night. 

“Hello?” He tentatively called. She just stood there in silence, eyes fixed on his bleeding hand. “Are you alright?”

The farmer blinked slowly as if waking from a deep sleep, looking up to his eyes. Somehow he expected hers to be a weird color, like red or purple, but they were just plain old dark brown, almost black under the moonlight.

She licked her chapped lips. “Uh, sorry, I heard someone here and thought it was… Uh… I mean, it’s pretty late.”

Sebastian watched silently as she took a step back. “You are not making any sense.”

“I don’t, right?” she chuckled. “This is awkward. Um, I’m Liz, the new farmer, but I guess you already know that.” She offered her hand to shake, but he looked down at his still very much bleeding hand. “Oh, fuck, yes, sorry. You need any help with that?”

“It’s a small cut. I’ll live.” He took a paper tissue from his hoodie pocket and cleaned some of the blood with it, revealing an already closing wound. “See? Everything’s fine.”

The face she made was as if someone had kicked a puppy, her eyes following each one of his movements.

Sebastian shuffled for a second, visibly uncomfortable with the situation. “Are you ok?” he asked again, noticing how her face had morphed into a painful grimace.

“Yeah. It’s just I… I- I just remembered that I haven’t had dinner yet. And, um, yeah. I should go. Nice meeting you!”

Liz ran away without waiting for a response, leaving a very confused man by the lake. 

“But it’s like three in the morning,” Sebastian thought out loud. 

***

_ Stupid, stupid, stupid!  _

Liz ran and ran, hoping that leaving the lake, the town and the valley behind could erase the last fifteen minutes of her life. 

She almost slipped. The one thing she swore not to, she almost did. And by stopping herself from doing so, she acted like a total freak in front of an innocent villager. Oh, damn, he was going to tell his friends and they will tell their families and then…

Well, the thing with pitchforks and torches may be outdated, but she would be ostracised. Vampires were a myth nowadays, but still, they will treat her like a freak and won’t try to be nice anymore. 

_ Aw man, I don’t want to leave so soon! _

She hoped a least a few decades before people started noticing her not aging. 

“More like a few weeks, now,” she grumbled, stopping to calm her breathing. She was fast, some of the faster of her coven, but in her starving state she was weaker than a baby vampire.

Great, she was in the middle of _more_ nowhere now. Trees, trees, and more trees. Somewhere, a car was passing through a road by the mountain; but apart from that, not a sound. And she was hungry. Very, very hungry.

Liz glanced up at the darkness trying to find a lonely creature that could satiate her at least until she could reach the city. Then, wash away the awful taste of animal blood with some random drunk human enjoying the city at night. 

A tree branch creaked at her side. She looked up, finding a mountain lion crouching, watching her with distrust.

“Sorry, buddy.” She smiled at the animal and jumped.

***

Sebastian was going to kill Sam. It was official. I mean, how could he not when he was dragged from bed after barely getting a few hours of sleep, forced to look alive under the sunlight and be conscious enough to listen to his friends rambling about the incoming egg festival like it was a big deal. Who the hell cares??

“Right, Seb?” Abigail prompted, expecting his answer as if he was listening.

“Huh?”

“We were saying,” Sam tried to help, “that we could ask the mayor if we could play a few songs at the festival.”

He blinked slowly, letting it know his overall opinion of the matter. It’s just a stupid festival about eggs. He couldn't care less.

What he wanted was to get out of the sun and go back to sleep. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t get any sleep even after finishing his work, really; the dull pain of the small cut in his hand reminded him of the weirdest night of his life.

I wasn’t like he had any real opinion of the farmer (Liz, she said her name was Liz) before; but now he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on the road that led towards her farm from Sam’s house, as if expecting her to emerge any moment now. What would he even say to her? Last night he uttered barely a word before she bolted away. Did he expect this time to be different?

Suddenly, as if summoned, she appeared. All dressed in black and with her big parasol, looking down at her feet as she approached them. Was she ignoring him? Them? 

“Oh, hey, Liz!” Sam, always bright and cheery, motioned her to join them. It wasn’t the first time he did, but it was the first time the mysterious woman obeyed.

“Hey.” Her smile was tiny, but welcoming. Even some pink gathered in her cheeks, clearly embarrassed with the situation. “What’s up.”

Sebastian wouldn’t say it out loud, but was glad of her parasol as it blocked some light for his tired eyes.

"Duuuude, you look half dead!" The blond commented, real concern in his face.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep last night," Liz smiled, shifting her parasol to cover her better. If she noticed Sebastian moving accordingly to receive some shade, she didn't say anything.

“Woah, it seems like we have a contender for the role of Pelican Town’s resident vampire, Seb!” 

He rolled his eyes. “Just because I wear black hoodies and don’t like people doesn’t make me a vampire, Sam. And I already told you that last night I was finishing a commision.”

“Whatever you say, emo boy,” Abigail arched an eyebrow and turned to the newcomer. “What’s your excuse, not-vampire?” She made a gesture to her whole gothic get-up.

“Um, I’m allergic to sunlight. For real!” she laughed at the disbelieving faces. “It’s a real thing, look it up!”

“Then why become a farmer?”

This time Liz rolled her eyes. “I should have expected the question. It isn’t like Robin and Lewis asked that already.” She sighed. “It seemed like the right thing to do, you know? I was tired of being a nobody, of being lonely around so many people, and wanted a real human connection.”

“That’s deep, tho.”

“But if you are allergic to the sun, how do you do farmer stuff? At night?” the blond asked, one eye fixed on his best friend getting closer and closer to Liz, drinking up the shade from the parasol like a starving man.

“There’s this new invention called “sunblock”. Don’t know if you heard of it?” Liz smirked. “And my problem is _direct_ sunlight. I burn if it touches me, but for the rest…” she shrugged.

Sebastian yawned, feeling his eyes close. Why was he even awake? Ah, yeah, Sam wanted to practise in case the Mayor let them play at the festival. 

“If we aren’t going to get any practising today then I’m going home. I need my beauty sleep.”

“Oh, sorry. I must get going too. I had some business to attend,” Liz smiled. “Nice talking with you guys.” She walked away, waving with one hand.

Sebastian _didn’t_ whine when the sun hit his face. Uh-huh. He didn’t miss her calming and fresh presence and very wide and very convenient parasol. 

Okay, maybe a little. The hoodie was starting to feel a bit too hot for the sunny spring day.

“She’s perfect,” the blond said watching the farmer go. 

“Huh?”

“For you dude! You guys make a super cute goth couple! Ask her out already!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Liz! The farmer! You were making heart eyes at her all this time! Don’t deny it, I saw everything.”

“I saw it too,” Abigail nodded, “and the goth gods are smiling at you today, dude.”

He narrowed his eyes. It was way too early for this bullshit. 

“I didn’t make heart eyes. And she is weird, that’s all.”

“Yeah right,” both friends snorted. “Whatever you say.” Sam shook his head.

“Look, we can practise or I can go home. Last chance.”

“Ok! Ok! Calm down Romeo, we’ll practise. And then you can go back to your coffin and sleep some more.”

***

Had he told them something? Didn’t he? He did, he totally did. That question didn’t come from nowhere. It couldn’t.

She was prepared to tell some bullshit about an allergy to sunlight, she had looked up the name for it (something very latin-sounding and technical that for the life of her she couldn’t remember); but it wasn’t a coincidence to be asked that barely hours after slipping like that. Or was it?

Sebastian didn’t look half alive either, and his interactions were rather minimal. She heard something about him not getting any sleep. Liz assumed it had to do with how awkward she had been. Oh my. 

_ Calm down!_ She told herself. Panicking wouldn’t solve anything, no. 

She had to go buy new seeds, for sure. That’s why she had went through all the trouble of covering her skin with sunblock, after all. 

Pierre’s was small and it barely had any variety of products, but she preferred the homey sensation and the small town friendliness over the cold treatment at Joja’s. Since learning about the store in town she avoided it like the plague.

She fetched her seeds and approached the counter, adding a last-minute sandwich to help the illusion of being a normal human being. One was never too cautious about that.

***

Sebastian was ready to drop dead in his bed and sleep until tomorrow, for real. After a heated argument with Lewis they were allowed “only a few songs, but nothing inappropriate!” for the egg festival, and _then_ Sam insisted on sitting down and choose which songs to play and _then_ start practising on them.

The sun was starting to set by the time he got home, his mind focused on his cold basement and his bed, heaven on Earth.

What he didn’t expect was finding _her_ sleeping in his house. Well, she was more like dozing on the sofa at the entrance, by his mother’s desk, but here she was - looking as dead as he felt. Bags under her eyes, the purple so dark it looked like it was tattooed on her skin. 

Not knowing what to do, he postponed his escape to sacred grounds and looked for his mother at the kitchen, who was calmly drinking her tea as she prepared dinner. 

“Why is the farmer sleeping in our house?” 

“Huh?” Robin turned slightly, a small smile in her face. “We were talking about expanding the cottage and she fell asleep waiting while I checked something. I thought she looked cute so I let her.”

_ Cute? More like a walking corpse. _

He must said so out loud, because his mother chuckled as she kept stirring something in the pot. “She reminds me of you, actually. You both work so hard at the cost of your health.”

“Don’t know what you are talking about.” He huffed, crossing his arms. First his friends and now his mother? They barely knew her, how could they know what was she like?

“Whatever,” he could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “Could you wake her up? I’m almost done here.”

“She’s staying for dinner?”

“She will, when you invite her to.”

Sebastian rose his arms to the sky, wondering why he got the short stick in life. “Sure.”

Liz was sleeping in the same position he left her in, and he wondered how to wake her. He didn’t want to be rude, for real, but he didn’t know her enough to be comfortable touching her without her knowing. He sighed, not really wanting to be caught looking at the sleeping woman and seem like a creep.

“Hey,” he shook her shoulder. She didn’t move. “Hey, you.” He shook harder. Nothing.

_ Why?_ he asked the heavens, getting closer to her, deciding how to make his next move, when the farmer inhaled deeply. 

“Hmm,” he heard her murmur before her unexpectedly strong arms seized his shoulders. Her face got closer, and he could barely see her eyes still shut as her head positioned somewhere between his neck and his shoulder. “Smells nice.”

He shivered, feeling her warm breath caress his uncovered skin, wondering what the hell was going on. Then, something hot and wet touched him. A tongue. He knew what it was.

_ Oh hell, no!  _

“Hey!” he tried to get free, but her grasp was like iron. “Let me go!” he hissed.

“Yummy, yummy…” 

He closed his eyes, dreading whatever was going to happen. His heart raced with adrenaline, but his body was frozen in place, knowing it was useless to try escaping her hands. Her breath hit his wet skin, and then something sharp and solid touched it -

“Sebby, what’s going on in there?” Robin’s voice cut through the haze like a knife, stopping his racing mind as well as the woman assaulting him in her sleep.

Fingers that one second ago felt like claws gripping his shoulders let him go. He heard a gasp and opened his eyes, finding her dark eyes of the farmer looking back at him. For a split second they were like -

“Sebby?”

Both turned to look at Robin, Sebastian taking a step back, his heart beating louder than Abby’s drums.

“Everything alright?” His mom asked, a small smirk in her lips indicating that she thought something of the situation way different than what really happened. “Did you ask her?”

“Ask me what?” Liz’s voice was rough, but sounded calmer than she looked.

“If you want to stay for dinner!” 

The farmer stood up abruptly. “I’m afraid I can’t. I have… I have some fish at home I don’t want to go bad. You know?” She took her closed parasol and went for the door. “Thanks for letting me rest here, Robin. Have a nice evening!”

The sound of the door closing was loud on Sebastian’s ears. He blinked, looking back at his mother.

“I’m not hungry. Save my plate and I’ll eat later, please.” And he run away to his basement, more confused than ever.

***

_ Stupid, stupid, and a thousand times stupid!  _

She had slipped again! In less than a day? Definitely not paying attention to her body had most certainly cost her only chance at happiness.

How could she? That poor boy! She almost bit him in broad daylight! In his own house! Oh yeah, she was utterly fucked. 

Liz wanted to cry by the time she got home.

She looked at her few belongings, wondering if she should start packing up now or wait until people accused her of whatever and asked her “nicely” to leave the town. She had just started to gain some profits and she had to let it go so soon… Who would take care of her grandpa’s lands? The people were really nice, someone would-

Lestat meowed at her feet, unleashing a whole new wave of waterworks. Who would take care of her cat? Was his even “her” cat if she only had him less than a week? She hoped that whoever adopted him kept the name. Or not. 

“Ugh,” she let her body collapse at the door, pulling up her legs to rest her head on her knees. “I should have slept in today.” It was a bad idea to go out today, the seeds could have waited one day more or she could have talked with Robin another day. She knew that she only pushed herself so far because she didn’t want to go through practically bathing in sunblock again so soon.

How silly it seemed now. Her own stubbornness and overconfidence put her in this position. Crying in fetal position against her door, waiting for the pitchforks and torches, real or figurative.

A knock at her door brought her back to reality. Showtime.

She got up and cleaned her face as best as she could. One wasn’t chased out of a town looking like a mess.

Once she felt like she could face an angry mob, she opened her door and… Sebastian was there? Liz looked around waiting for the rest of the group to appear, but it was dark and silent. A normal Stardew Valley night.

“Um, hello?” the boy in front of her said. She looked back at him, frowning.

“Where’s the rest?”

“The rest of what?”

Liz blinked slowly. “The rest of the people who knows I almost attacked an innocent man? And is here to ask me to leave?” her voice went higher with each word.

Sebastian snorted. “I haven’t told anyone that you are not human, don’t worry. Can I come in now?”

“Oh, I see, that’s nice- Wait what?”

He got tired of waiting and walked around her to get inside. Once in the small cottage, he approached the tiny table and put a container on it. 

“Mom made you dinner anyway. She asked me to deliver it to you. But I guess you won’t eat it because you are a vampire.”

Liz turned, her mouth wide open. “How do you know that?”

“You just confirmed it,” his smile was tired, but brilliant. 

“Oh, fuck.”

Sebastian flopped down on the only chair by the table, and rested his head on his hand, watching the farmer with a knowing smile.

“So, what is a vampire doing in Stardew Valley?”

“Farmer stuff, I guess.”

“And was that old man really your grandfather?”

“Not by blood, but we were close friends.”

“I see. Do you really burn in the sun?”

“As I told your friend, I can’t be under direct sunlight. And I use sun cream.” She blinked at the quasi-normal interview. “Excuse me, when is the moment you start to freak out?”

“I already did some of that. An hour ago. When you almost bit me. Because that’s what happened, right?” he gulped. “You almost bit me.”

She took a deep breath. 

“Yeah. I, uh… I couldn’t sleep last night, you know?” she looked down, a bit ashamed. “And I guess you were really close and um, human blood is really tasty, not like animal, that’s just, ugh, and then I was dreaming about something nice and-”

“Do vampires sleep?”

“This isn’t Twilight. Please. And I don’t sparkle either.” She narrowed her eyes.

They both looked at each other for a few awkward seconds before starting to laugh. It was silly, Liz thought, to be talking normally like that after having a mental breakdown because of this same boy.

Oh, well. 

“So… not freaking out? We good?” maybe she showed a bit of her fangs in her smile. Maybe.

“Yeah, we good. Surprisingly enough, it helps knowing that you aren’t just some weirdo.” He blushed and looked down, his face partially blocked by his hair. “And I guess it _is_ pretty hot.”

_ Of course you would, you emo fuck _

***

__

That night, once Sebastian got home, ate dinner and collapsed on his bed, he felt like waking up from a dream. 

__

The farmer. She was… nicer than he thought. Once they cleared the stupid but necessary questions out of the way (no coffin, no aversion to garlic, yes to needing blood, no to killing people, a “you don’t ask a lady her age” and a “rude” to asking about religion) they simply chilled at her home, talking about everything and anything. It turned out that she liked the same branch of fantasy than him, even if she sometimes succumbed to cheesy romance novels full of porn; she had played some D&D before, but had _heard_ about Solarion Chronicles (he invited her to the next session nonetheless); and she had tried her hand at piano for a while until she got bored a few decades ago. 

He inhaled, remembering her dark eyes and her shiny black hair, how the light got caught in weird angles making it look like it had silver highlights sometimes. How she smiled when he confessed about his obsession with vampirism in his teenage years, how her laugh was contagious when she told the tale of how to get an annoying neighbour to move out by making her believe her house was haunted. 

Oh, my. He had caught _feelings._

Sebastian put a hand over his eyes, unable to stop the thoughts coming to his brain. How soft and huggable she looked. How she could fit perfectly in his arms, if he dared. How her soft hair would feel between his fingers. How her breasts bounced when she plopped down by the bed, complaining about not having enough chairs. 

__

Yes, he had looked. Respectfully, though. 

__

Who was he kidding? He was totally looking at her chest.

__


	2. Chapter 2

She didn’t expect him to be at her door first thing next morning. He had said himself that he was more of a night owl, working at night when the house was silent and no one bothered him. “No one” being his stepfather Demetrius. She hadn’t met him yet, but by her new friend’s description she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

“Oh, hi!” she smiled once she opened her door, genuinely happy to seeing him so soon. “Didn’t expect you awake until…” she looked at her wristwatch, “the next ten hours?”

“Couldn’t sleep, so I came here,” Sebastian shuffled his feet, a small blush decorating his visible cheek. “Or I can go, no problem. It’s just, you mentioned you were getting up early and well, I didn’t want to stay at home today and-”

“Hey, hey. It’s ok. My door is always open. You can come in,” her smile was wide as she gestured for him to get inside. 

“You are a lifesaver. Got any coffee?” He stopped once he realized what he just said. “Or I guess not.”

“Actually, I do have coffee!” she smirked, showing one fang. “I buy some stuff to look human, remember? Serve yourself, I’m going to start working on the farm.”

“Thanks.”

She nodded and put on her farming hat, a not-so-glamorous gardening hat with a wide brim that gave enough shade to work without her parasol. Gloves on, sun cream on and every inch of skin covered, Liz got to work.

Some hours later, with the crops watered and a whole new patch of her farm cleared, she came back inside to find her guest fast asleep on her bed, an open book by his hand. She recognized it as the one she had on her nightstand, which was also one Sebastian mentioned he liked when he read it as a kid.

She let him rest more as she showered and changed her clothes, not before reapplying her thick layer of sun cream, of course. She checked her phone, wondering if it was a suitable hour for lunch, and ventured back to her bed to wake him up.

“Hey,”

“Hm?” he made a face as he was brought back to the world of the living. “I fell asleep? Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she shrugged, “I just finished my stuff and showered and everything, and you don’t bother me. I just thought you may be hungry.”

“Is it that late?” He looked for his phone, groaning once he looked. “Twenty texts from my mom, five missed calls from her, and one from Demetrius. I’m dead.”

“It’s been a pleasure knowing you, man.” Liz smiled, trying to empathize. 

“Sorry, I have to call my mom. Be right back.”

He went outside for privacy, but she could still hear both parts of the conversation. Robin was worried, but relieved to know he was okay. She had called Jodi to check if he was with Sam since he didn’t come up for breakfast, getting worried when learning that no one has seen him since last night. He apologized plenty, and told her about being with Liz, jumping to tell his mother that he had come to check on her after yesterday, that yes, she was okay, and that she had appreciated the food and that no, he wouldn’t come by for lunch because Liz had offered to cook something as thanks.

The vampire giggled, getting up to heat her abandoned container with Robin’s spaghetti for Sebastian, since she had supposedly promised him some food.

The spaghettis were warm and ready to eat by the time her guest came back.

“How…?” he froze at the door, looking suspiciously at the steaming plate prepared, apparently, for him.

“Supernatural hearing,” she tapped her ears. 

“Creep,” he narrowed his eyes, but sat down anyway. “You are a Godsend, by the way. If I go home now Demetrius will eat me alive.”

“Not if I do before,” she licked her lips, wiggling her eyebrows as she sat on the table facing him. Sebastian choked mid-bite, looking at her with wide eyes and a cute blush starting to form. “I’m joking! I just fed the other night, I’ll be fine for a couple of weeks.” She made a gesture with her hand, dismissing the issue completely.

“True, you mentioned that,” he focused on his food, hiding the blush. “I wanted to ask about it, too.”

“What? More rude questions about my eating habits?”

“No! Well… maybe?” he smiled apologetically. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… do you plan on feeding on the people around here?”

She should have expected that question. She definitely should have.

“I mean, you told me that people don’t simply turn into vampires by a mere bite, but…”

“Nah, the wound would be too obvious. That’s why I couldn’t bite you that night - you would have noticed something like that.”

“Then, how…?”

Liz smiled fondly, feeling warmth in her chest. “I planned on going to Zuzu when I was hungry. Too many people, no one would notice. Or believe it was anything else than a weird dream or drug induced trip, if I choose well my prey.”

“I see….” 

He finished eating in companionable silence, his brain mulling over the new piece of information. He had finished swallowing the last bite when a thought crossed his mind.

“How do you get there? I didn’t see a car or anything.”

“Uh… I ran. That part is like Twilight, though.”

“I have a bike, if you ever feel too tired to run all the way there. I promise I can go fast, especially at night.” 

The vampire blinked in disbelief. It was… unexpected. But nice? No has ever offered to give her a lift to feeding grounds. Vampires were very private with their hunting.

“Or, well, if you ever need it I am here. I mean,” he stood up abruptly, escaping towards the tiny kitchen sink to wash his plate. “I don’t mind…”

“And it’s a goth dream came true.”

He turned, watching her intensely as if his face wasn’t red at all.

“And it’s a goth dream came true.” He nodded, smiling at the absurdity of the situation.

She laughed too, jumping down the table, delighted with the warm feeling inside at his awkwardness, how he tried to understand and get used to her… uniqueness.

Was this the human connection she craved?

She felt like it was. She hoped it was. 

"So, any plans for today? Apart from brooding in the darkness and preying on innocent women?" He asked, one eyebrow arched.

Liz shook her head, giggling still. “Nah, I’m open for ideas.”

“Have you been by the beach yet? It’s pretty nice, specially when it’s raining,” the way he spoke of it made her make a mental note to check that out at a later date. “Or, if you want to, I can show you my comic collection. I don’t have work for now.”

“You mean I can hide from the sun in a cool basement with a even cooler friend? Sure!”

His smile was brighter than any she have ever seen before on him.

***

Thankfully for them, Demetrius was nowhere to be seen when they dared show face at his house. Robin was as nice and bubbly as the previous day, accepting the now empty container of food with promises of more homemade delicacies, mentioning that her Pumpkin Soup was Sebastian’s favourite, and sending them on their way with a pat on the back.

Once in his room he checked if he indeed had nothing to work on, finding a new email requesting a change in his latest work.

“They can’t expect me to have this done in a few hours! A ‘small change’ does not exist in programming!” he lamented, looking apologetically at his guest. “Sorry, I have to at least do something today, do you mind?”

“If you want me to leave…”

“Nah, it’s okay. I have the comics I promised and another computer, if you decide that hermit life isn’t your thing,” he patted the second tower as he plopped down on his chair. 

He watched as she thought about it for a few moments, finally choosing a comic anthology and sitting down on his sofa. He looked at her as she read, her lips slightly curving up in the funny parts, and he found it hard to look away. It wasn’t his fault, she was pretty and she knew it, choosing to wear today a vintage style black dress that hugged her curvy body in all the good ways. She wasn't wearing any makeup, and he wondered if she ever wore any of if it was a farmer thing. 

Eventually he did focus on his work, the minutes passing by fast as he typed the new code for the module. He may had found it annoying that a last minute change was asked of him, but he fortunately enjoyed his work. 

Suddenly, Robin entered without knocking, _as usual._

“Hey, Sebby.”

“You could knock, I’m working.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry,” at least she seemed honest. “I ran into Abigail at the town earlier. She said she wanted to come by.”

“Did you tell her I was working?”

“Yeah, but she said she would anyway,” she smiled apologetically, “so I wanted to warn you.”

_No one takes my work seriously…_

“Thanks, I guess.” He said. Robin nodded and left, leaving a tense atmosphere between his guest and him.

They looked at each other for a moment, the words “I’m sorry” on the tip of his tongue, when she stood up and approached him.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Do you want me to talk to her?” she said as she put one hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

Sebastian blinked away the uncomfortable feeling blooming in eyes, turning to look at the amazing person that made him feel understood. And they had known each other for barely a day. Huh.

“It’s okay. Thanks. I’m almost done anyway.”

“Sure thing,” she turned to look at what he was doing. “Is that Java? I always wanted to learn but meh, never got around to try.”

“You know how to program?” 

Her smile was sneaky, showing a bit of a fang. “I was curious to see if I could do it. Bought books and everything, but it was boring as hell.”

“I see a tendency to give up quickly,” he remembered her making comments about ‘getting bored and abandoning’ a lot from last night.

“When you live forever, being amused ends up being the only purpose in life.” She shrugged. ”It’s true that I’m relatively young for my species, but I wasn’t exactly the hard working type of human anyway.”

“I could see you as a lazy, angsty teenager,” he looked back at the code, checking one more time if it looked okay, clicking the ‘compile’ button. The screen was swarmed with red alerts. “Oh, wow.”

“Hey, you missed this,” she leaned towards the keyboard, her arm snaking over his, typing a few conditions that might be the issue. 

Sebastian froze. She was close, very _very_ close; he could smell her natural scent partially covered by the sun cream still on her skin. He decided that she smelled like iron and vanilla.

He barely dared turn his head, over conscious of the fact that her face, her lips, were mere inches from his. She was a movement away from kissing him. Oh my, oh my...

The vampire looked back at him, her gaze meeting his, and he could see the moment she realized their proximity. His face was on fire. He looked down at her lips, full and pink, and was he thinking about kissing her? Hell yeah. Was he going to do it? His mind was filled with static, any coherent thought out of the way the moment he caught her looking at his lips too-

“Hey! That’s totally uncool!”

“I called it! I called iiiiiit!!!” 

Both turned to look at the door, finding a frowning Abigail and a jumping Sam, who looked about to explode with how much he was smiling.

“Told you that you guys were perfect! Oh my Yoba! Call me Cassandra because I saw it first!”

“Seb, if you have been ignoring us all this time to hook up with the farmer I’m going to judge you. Shame on you.” Abigail crossed her arms, but a tiny smile appeared on her lips.

“Hook u- No! Absolutely not!” He abruptly stood up, his face red. Sebastian glanced at Liz to check on her or apologize for his friends or at least give himself a moment to banish away the blush; but felt ultimately betrayed when the woman started laughing like it was the best joke ever.

“Oh, my. I didn’t know you were making bets!” Somehow, Sebastian didn’t feel good when he looked at the depth of her dark eyes. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing going on between us. Just friends.” She lifted her arms as if making herself less dangerous. 

Sam seemed a bit put out, but his smile was hard to vanquish. “Nah, give it time,” he shrugged. 

“Please stop talking about this,” Sebastian uttered under his breath. He wanted the earth to open in that moment and swallow him whole.

“Actually,” Abby interrupted whatever Sam was going to say, looking at a pale Sebastian, “we were going to ask you if you wanted to hang out today.”

“I’m working.” He said in autopilot.

His friends looked at the farmer at his side. Then they looked at him, smiling.

“Ok, I _was_ working and she was reading. I had a last minute request on a recent project. Happy now?” He crossed his arms.

“Hey,” Liz said, looking at him with a warm smile, “if you want to go with your friends-”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Samson, the moron, the stomper of personal boundaries, destroyer of emotional barriers, approached them and grabbed the woman by the arm, pulling her towards the door. “You are coming with us!” he shouted already dragging her upstairs.

***

Being honest, Liz didn’t ever think her night would end with trying to avoid her new friends’ offers of free food and booze. She wasn’t against either, don’t be mistaken - but there was the tiny issue that if she ate human food she would vomit everything in her stomach. As in, a litre and a half of blood from the other night? Yes, that. She wasn’t going to vomit all of that in front of the entire town.

“I’m not hungry,” she said for the tenth time, trying to still be kind to Abigail as she approached her with a pizza slice. “I swear.”

She ignored Sebastian’s sideways look as he prepared another shot at the pool. 

“Leave her alone. If she’s not hungry, then she isn’t.”

“But how could she not? It’s way past dinner time!”

Liz licked her lips. Good point. “I already ate too many snacks at Seb’s house,” she said, searching for his eyes and his backup. Yoba, it was nice having him in the know. It was starting to be useful.

“Yeah, she kinda skipped lunch and mom fed her way too many leftovers. You know how she is,” his voice was normal as he lied, his pose calm as he made his shot. Liz didn’t know a thing about pool, but he managed to push three balls into the sockets with just one shot. Looked really pro.

“So… you guys spent the day together?” Sam asked again, fishing for details. “Oh, man!” he shouted when his shot didn’t hit anything.

“Kind of,” Liz shrugged nonchalantly, as if they hadn’t spent the last twenty four hours discussing her lack of humanity. “I wasn’t feeling like myself yesterday and Seb came to check if I was okay this morning.” They had told them a watered down version of the incident at Robin’s house, at least to diminish their insistence. 

“And Demetrius was being difficult so I stayed,” his friend threw the stepdad card, and the vampire watched with amazement how it seemed like a normal behaviour for Sebastian to stay at a stranger’s house instead of facing the man, since Sam and Abigail nodded in understanding. “You still need to get internet Liz. Can’t be a hermit forever,” he smirked.

“Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic and don’t need it.” Knowing that he knew, she felt like a little kid doing this hidden inner joke. Oh my, did they have now their own inner jokes? The thought made her giggle like an idiot.

“Maybe you need to keep up with the times, woman,” Sebastian smiled cockily at her from the other side of the pool table, one eye partially hidden by his hair. The warm feeling from that morning came back, burning her frozen heart. She put a hand where she felt it most, in wonder.

“Girl, you _have_ to eat!” Abby whined from her side, where both were sitting with the pizza and the glasses. “I’ve seen you put a hand on your stomach a lot tonight! If you are sick then you need the nutrients to get better!” 

Liz blinked in confusion. Sick? She wasn’t - oooohhhhh. They indeed had told them she had looked weird and pale yesterday and that it was why Seb was with her today. Uh.

“I’m not-”

“Nonsense! Wait here!” she immediately got up and sprinted towards the bar, asking for, probably, human food. If it was the case she must defuse the situation _soon._

Liz looked at Sebastian in panic, but he was trying to distract Sam from the whole thing. Good, the blond would make it harder than it was. She wasn’t good with group pressure.

“Here,” a hand appeared in front of her. A hand with a glass of water. “Drink it, and I won’t accept a ‘no’ for an answer.”

In retrospective, Abigail was just being nice. And caring. She was a friend and she cared for her friends, right? It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t aware of the very real vampire refusing to eat in front of her.

Besides, it was just water, right? It wouldn’t hurt to drink it.

“Okay…,” Liz took the glass and drowned it in one gulp. It felt weird and tasteless, and the ever-present thirst in her throat didn’t diminish with it. Ugh. “I’m fine, Abby. But thanks.”

“Now, eat.” It wasn’t a question. Pizza was then pushed in her mouth, and under the watchful eyes of Abigail she had to chew it. Swallow it. Disgusting, so so disgusting. “Ok, better now?”

For a moment, the vampire didn’t notice anything. Sebastian and Sam were looking at her, the former probably unable to distract his friend anymore, waiting for her to say something.

“I’m -” the ‘fine’ was on her lips, but then something was terribly _wrong_ with her. It hurt, hurt so much, and her stomach felt like about to explode. Uh-oh. “Be right back!” she barely could shout as she bolted towards the bathroom.

It hurt as she threw up, it hurt to feel her precious sustenance making its way back up with the water and the pizza and the regrets that always came with eating human food. Because, believe me, it wasn’t her first rodeo. Oh no, she had been young and felt invincible once upon a time. Since then the mere sight of french fries could send her vomiting.

At least, she thought as she finished emptying her stomach and stood back up, she managed to get there in time. She didn’t have to clean up the bloody mess, so points for her. 

Liz flushed the toilet, checked once more for any vampiric evidence, and turned to wash her hands on the sink. The small bar bathroom had a mirror there, making her face her own paler than pale reflection, the purple under her eyes visible once more. And her fangs. Oh boy. She couldn’t talk without flashing them to everyone.

A knock on the door. “Liz? Are you alright?”

“What do you think?”

Sebastian snorted. “Tell me at least that it doesn’t look like ‘ _The Shining’_ in there.”

“Not, but if I don’t get out of here soon it will be like _From dusk till dawn’_ ”

“Not good, then. Nice movie, though.”

Liz rolled her eyes, opening the door. “Tell your friends that I have to leave early and that I’m sorry.”

“Wow, you look like-” Sebastian stood frozen where he stood. She could feel his eyes on her fangs.

“Like shit? Yeah I know. If you’ll excuse me…” she made to push past him to make her hasty escape, but a hand gripped her arm.

“Wait here. Be right back.” He turned and was too far for her to protest in the blink of an eye. 

Welp, it was waiting in the bathroom, then. She closed the door and stood in the corridor, her back to the wall and face down, just in case someone walked past her.

Sooner than she expected, her friend came back and offered her his arm. “Lean on me. The story is now that you are too weak from throwing up and are about to pass out and you have an _amazing_ friend that’s going to make sure you get home safe.”

She arched her eyebrow, but took his arm anyway. “Wasn’t it easier for me to make a run for the door and let you explain instead?”

“Too many questions. They’d insist on going with you, and…,” he looked away, his cheeks going red. “And they won’t ask if I offer instead.”

“Because they swear there’s something going on between us.” 

“Yep,” he tried to sound nonchalant, but she heard the slight tremble. So cute. So full of life. “So… let’s go.”

And they went. Liz got her hasty escape through the door, her face hidden in Sebastian’s hoodie, and him taking some of her weight to make it look like she was going to pass out any moment. Once outside, she felt good breathing in the fresh air. 

“Feeling better?” he let her go. Liz felt cold without his warmth. She rubbed the arm that had been in contact with him, frowning at the slight buzzing sensation.

“Thanks. Too many humans and too hungry.” She smiled at him, amused when he couldn’t help but look down at her very visible and very obvious fangs. “I don’t mind.”

“Huh?”

“You. Staring at my fangs,” she shrugged. Some vampires she knew felt like it was a sensitive and almost private thing. She didn’t care that much? “You can touch too.”

“Really?” here it was the blush again. Cute. “But not here,” she watched as he restrained himself. True, they were still at the Saloon’s door. 

“Let’s go to my place then.” 

As they walked back to her farm, talking about anything and everything, a part of her mind was feeling like something was missing. She was _cold_ for the first time in what felt like ages. Was it because she was thirsty? Was it because she missed Sebastian’s warmth where he had touched her? 

Maybe both, she considered. Sebastian made her feel warm. She wasn’t a fool, even if she hadn’t been in love before. Crushes here and there. And an almost, maybe, relationship with a girl that had distanced from her when she moved to Zuzu City. 

Anyway! Did she like him? Hell yeah. He was cool and everything, and they had a lot in common. The fact that he knew about her vampiric condition was a plus, too. She felt like she could be herself with him, another kind of freedom from what she came to Stardew Valley for. 

Love? We’ll see.

“... and Demetrius made me remove the snow-goon, but not Maru’s! So annoying.” He rolled his eyes, one hand on his hoodie pocket. “Hey, do you mind if I smoke?” he took out his packet of cigarettes as she opened the door to her farm. 

She didn’t like the smoke. It made her nose itch. “Outside, please.”

“Uh, sensitive nose?” he ventured, looking at her and then at the cigs in his hand, considering. “Be right back, then.”

She watched as he not only kept the smoke outside, but took care of smoking downwind so it wouldn’t stay on the premises. How nice.

In the meantime, Liz changed her clothes to something more comfortable for running all the frigging way to the city because now she had to feed _again._ Ugh. So annoying. Abby was nice and she meant well, she knew, but ugh. Pizza was blacklisted now.

“Where are you going?” Seb’s voice brought her back. He was standing at the doorstep, looking at her as she picked her keys and walked in his direction.

“To the city. Because of _someone_ now I have to feed again. I wanted to sleep tonight, but,” she shrugged, making a face. 

“Um…” her friend looked down at his hands. Oh, the blush was back again! Not as red as before, but still noticeable. “Remember when I said I was available…?”

He gulped. She looked at him. Blinked once, twice.

“Did I say something rude again?”

“No, I’m thinking.”

“About?” he said, his voice firmer and his blush gone.

“About what I did to deserve you as a friend.” And it was true. How nice. “Are you sure?”

“Does it hurt?”

She smirked. Couldn’t miss the opportunity. “Only at first. Then it’s all pleasure.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes, his shoulders relaxing. He pushed past her and plopped down on the sofa, getting comfortable. “Please don’t make this a weird sexual thing. I’m just trying not to freak out already.”

“Oh, I will make it weird, pal.” Liz teased, sitting down next to him. Slowly, she caressed his neck with a finger, smiling purposely showing fangs. “Take the hoodie off.”

He blinked at her. Sadly, no blush.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s in the way! Take it off.”

“If this is all a lie to take advantage of me I will be very upset,” he said, but moved to take it off nonetheless. 

“Oh, wow, if you want your precious hoodie to get all bloodied, be my guest.” She crossed her arms, totally not checking out how his arms looked as firm as they felt back at the Saloon. And the rock band t-shirt? A solid ten out of ten. Why did he hide all of this under a hoodie?

“Stop imagining me naked and get on with it,” she snorted, but was glad that he could be relaxed enough to make a joke. “Wait! Will I faint and all of that?”

“Um… I usually don’t take it that far, but I’m really, _really_ hungry tonight,” her smile was apologetic. “I’ll try not to make it painful, but hypnotism can only do so much.”

She laughed internally as he mouthed the word ‘hypnotism’. Then, as if remembering something important, he rummaged through his hoodie pocket and fished his phone, wrote something quick and put it away again. 

“Sent a text to my mom, so she won’t call the police or anything.”

“Good thinking.”

“Now, bite me like one of your french girls,” he put a hand behind his head, bending his neck to show more skin, a smirk on his lips. 

“Okay then.” She shuffled closer, but the angle wasn’t good. She frowned. “Can you, uh, get up? This position is a bit weird.”

“Oh, sorry.” He did as told, not moving when she did too stood up. 

“Relax,” she put a hand on the right side of his neck, where it was more accessible. “Or it’ll hurt more.”

“Ok,” his voice was a whisper. She could hear his heart beating fast as she stepped impossibly closer, his breath quickening. 

“Relax,” Liz giggled, touching his cheek softly. His eyes, which she hadn’t realized were purple-ish until now, how cool, fluttered close. He took a deep breath, calming himself. “Good. Now, focus on my voice. I’m going to bite and that part will hurt a bit, but then my saliva has a calming effect.”

“Like the bats?”

“Yeah,” she laughed again, this time closer to her target. She could see it now, the main artery, full of tasty and much needed blood. “Just like the bats. Here I go.”

“Ready.” He tried to nod, but she quickly grabbed him by the hair on the neck, immobilizing him. 

And she bit him, quickly, without hesitation. If she did, it would get messy and painful for her, uh, donor, and it was the least she wanted for her friend. With such a clean bite the blood started to flow swiftly, barely giving her time to gulp down her share of red liquid. She took great care on not licking the wound, as it would close faster and she would have to bite again to reopen it. Big no no.

Soon she felt satiated enough, around the same time she felt Sebastian start to fade in her arms. Changing tactics, she licked furiously the last drops of blood and let her supernatural saliva close the bites and muffle the pain for him. 

Once it was completely stopped, she pulled back. Sebastian had passed out, but he was fine. She hadn’t taken even close to the dangerous amount, she was positive. 

Well, time to get to bed it was! She put him down on the sofa, removed his belt and shoes, and then carried him to her bed, considering.

She had a big bed, a tiny speck of decadence she allowed herself when moving to the farm. It was silly to make him sleep on the sofa. And she didn’t mind him sleeping with her. She might have joked, but she wouldn’t make this a weird sexual thing. 

And they were friends, right? Friends slept with each other, specially after sucking the blood out of them to the point of fainting. 

Anyway, she put him inside the covers, and went to change into her pajamas. Once ready for bed she got in beside him, turning off the light.

Liz looked at Sebastian, admiring his sleeping face. He had long lashes, she hadn’t noticed before. In general, he had a pretty face. She made a mental note to tell him so. It was nice to receive compliments, and they were free to give.

She rolled on her back, looking at the shapes the moonlight made on her ceiling. She thought about getting compliments from her friend, and the warm sensation in her chest was back. It was nice.

She turned her head to look at him again. She smiled. 

Yeah, she could like _like_ him. It felt nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll caught the What We Do In The Shadows reference!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the chapters I had ready, so it'll be a while until I have more. This was meant as a shameless dump of fluff, so there's no plot to follow or anything. I have some ideas in the making and expect to have more stuff soon!

Waking up, the first thing Sebastian felt was warmth. The second was the realization that he wasn’t in his bed and he had a weird feeling in his arm, like it was locked in an unnatural position and it had fallen asleep during the night.

He opened one eye, finding the black haired mess of his new friend in his arms. She was using his arm as a pillow, so at least it explained that part. He tried to look around, but the moment he moved his head a sharp pain on the side of his neck brought back the memories from last night. 

Sebastian felt his face on fire thinking about last night; the fresh memory of Liz attached to him, the sounds of her gulping down his own blood doing _things_ to his heartbeat. It was hotter than what he had imagined. Oh yes, he could see the potential, even if both tried to keep it civil. It wasn’t hard for him to port the sounds and sensations to another different scenario, somewhere else that making it a sexual thing wasn’t out of place.

He allowed himself a moment to imagine it, though. He could totally see himself offering to her in a figuratively silver plate, taking off his clothes to bait her in, letting her choose where to bite. He could see her eyes do that thing when she got thirsty that she didn’t seem to be aware she did, how they get slitted like a cat’s, changing color to a reddish brown. He could imagine her biting, combining pain and pleasure with her amazingly strong hands-

“Stop thinking whatever you are thinking or I’ll bite you again.” Her voice abruptly stopped his daydreaming.

He shivered. Funny enough, _that_ was exactly what he wanted her to do.

“Don’t know what you are talking about,” he opened his eyes, very aware of his red face, smiling down at the farmer in his arms. She was smiling too, her fangs back to their human-looking state.

She shuffled in his arms, one leg pushing between his, where a part of himself was way worked up and he was positive she could feel it through his jeans.

“Sure.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes, but didn’t make any comment. Instead he decided to enjoy the quiet and calm saturday morning air coming from the open bedroom window, realizing that he couldn’t have this in his basement. It was nice.

Liz shuffled in his arms, and he felt her soft hands pick up his left one. When she touched his palm he remembered that was the one wounded the other night when they formally met. Wow, it felt like ages ago, even if it was everything but. 

“I almost bit you that night, too,” she commented, caressing the closed wound. 

“Well, it seems third time’s the charm,” he said, his eyes closed still. “And I suspect that a willing victim makes this easier.”

“Oh, yes, you have no idea,” she giggled, letting go of his hand. She moved again, making him open his eyes. She had turned around to face him, his trapped arm now free. “Thank you again, by the way.”

“Anytime,” he smiled down at her, surprised to see a tiny blush on her cheeks. He moved his non-asleep arm to place a hand on her cheek. “You look more… human?”

“Ah, yes, the blood does its stuff.”

“You are blushing,” she looked away. “Don’t do that. It’s cute on you.”

“Smooth.”

They smiled at each other, basking in the comfortable silence of a lazy morning in bed. His hand was still on her cheek, he noticed, allowing himself to caress her soft skin with his thumb. She was really pretty, her long black hair messy and all over the place, her cheeks red from his own blood (which, in retrospective, should be a disturbing thought), her lips so full and soft looking. Kissable.

Looking up he found her looking at him, her eyes deepless pools full of mysteries he wanted to uncover. He felt silly being this attached and gone with someone he practically just met - but she felt… right. They clicked instantly and he found that he didn’t feel overwhelmed with her. At all. On the contrary, he felt like they could be perfectly silent and at peace in that bed all day without feeling drowned; like he could spend days at her side without needing to withdraw from humanity to recharge. 

He leaned in, searching for confirmation in her eyes. He was going to kiss her, and by the tiny smile he understood she wanted him to. Bit by bit he got closer, his mind filled with static as his stomach was filled with butterflies. 

Their lips were almost meeting, the residual warmth of his skin caressing hers, the soft touch of her lips almost touching his. She was moving with tentative care, like she was waiting for him to draw back any moment. He felt like-

“Meow!” 

Something bounced on the bed, surprising them apart. He turned, finding black cat with striking green eyes frowning? back at him. 

“Meow!”

“I know, Lestat. You are hungry. My bad.” Liz laughed at the cat, removing herself from his arms and reaching for the animal. “I’ve been a bad mama these days.”

The cat looked back at him before jumping back down, meowing all the way to the kitchen.

“I have to feed him. Be right back.” She said, getting out of the bed.

Sebastian watched her go, making note of the cute bat pajamas she had on, before rolling on his back. He sighed. What a way to kill the moment.

Because they had a moment, right? He hadn’t imagined things, he was sure. She seemed on board with the whole thing. Did she like him? Love him?

Okay now he was being silly. People kissed and that didn’t mean they were in love, or a couple. He shouldn’t get his hopes up. Yesterday she said there was nothing but friendship between them, and while it was true, he couldn’t know if that was the only thing she wanted. He should just ask her. Yeah.

“Seb?” her voice came from the doorway, “I’m going to take care of the farm and stuff. I have food in the kitchen, serve yourself.” She said as she walked to her dresser, picked up some clothes, and made her way to the bathroom. “Eat something rich in iron!” she screamed through the door.

The pain in his neck when he tried to stand up reminded him why she said that. One hand went up to touch and, there they were, twin puncture wounds at the side of his neck. They _hurt!_

“Ouch!” he whispered when he tried to put pressure in it. 

This whole pain thingy made him reconsider his offer, but almost as if she was reading his mind, the bathroom door swung open and there it was his favorite vampire. She threw something at him, which slipped between his fingers and fell off the bed.

“Put on this cream, it will numb the pain,” her smile was contagious. “And here are some bandages.” She threw a box at him, but this one he caught.

For a moment he feared they were bat themed too, but they were plain old skin toned. He chuckled, ignoring the ever present blush he had with her around.

Yeah, he was far too gone for her.

***

The rest of the day they spent it apart. It wasn’t by their own choosing - Liz had to finish clearing a new section of the land for the coop she planned having built and Sebastian did have work to do, since last night they were roped into a night out with their friends.

Liz giggled. Their friends. She now had more people that fit the criteria. So far Abby and Sam seemed nice, a bit overwhelming and loud, but she couldn’t wait to know more of them. Now that she didn’t feel the impending doom of being chased out she could once more let herself make plans for the next decades she had in this town. How many people she could befriend.

Sadly, for that she had to socialize, in plain broadlight. She sighed, not really liking it but knowing it must be done if she wanted to make a change in her life. She had by then met everyone in the town, including the weird wizard. Look, she was a vampire - it wasn’t far fetched to believe that man’s magical claims. Even the Junimo business was easy to believe.

But for now she wanted to try her hand at the caves. Gunther, the man taking care of the library, had told her about the amazing minerals that could be found down there. Yeah, she was already a vampire farmer, why not a vampire miner?

That’s how she found herself talking to yet another weird man with a funky beard. 

“Take it,” he said, giving her a rusty sword. “You’d give it a better use than me.”

_Okay…_

And thus, she had taken the stairs down, encountering the “monsters” she had been warned about - if the slimes and bugs and disgusting worms could be called that. Look, she wasn’t vain, but being covered in monster slime wasn’t exactly her preferred afternoon plan.

She sighed, sitting down for a moment once she was sure the elevator worked for the fifteenth floor. Liz checked her backpack, proud of the amount of ore, gems, and overall pretty rocks she had come across with, remembering that Gunther offered to tell her what they were if she donated them. She was okay with money for now, so she would; but the perspective of another steady income was relaxing for her mind. She could really live without internet or a computer but did she really have to?

If she had internet Sebastian couldn’t complain, and maybe he could work from her home…

What was she thinking? She put a hand on her cheek, not minding if she smeared dirt and slime all over it. She liked the human, but she shouldn’t raise her hopes so high, especially so soon. She wasn’t against being with a human, and she didn’t care if her species considered them cattle and lowlifes; but she shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that anything between them, friendship or otherwise, was only temporary. 

It was a sad thought, but it was something she had seen first hand more than once - what happened if you forgot that humans didn’t live forever. The last one being grandpa.

It’s true that Sebastian still had a whole life ahead, that she was being silly by denying their relationship, whatever that may be, for some future problem it could cause. But was she prepared to watch him grow old and move on with his life, while she remained there, unchangeable?

***

Fortunately for everyone, Sebastian had managed to not only finish his work for today, but catch up with some much needed rest and eat lunch with his family, if only to shut up Demetrius and not worry his mother.

Did that mean she kept her own comments about his whereabouts to herself? Of course not. Sebastian knew she was just teasing; and she was aware that he was a grown man and whatever happened - or didn’t happen, which he insisted plenty - with the farmer last night was his own business. But it didn’t stop his step-father from butting in with poorly disguised comments about not making any mistakes and making sure she was clean.

He was too tired to start a fight, for real, so Sebastian just asked them to mind their own business and leave him alone, washed his plate and ran outside for a smoke to calm down. 

The fresh air of the mountain did help cool down his rising anger. What was his deal? Demetrius hasn't even talked with Liz, so it was uncalled for to be so… disgusting about it. 

Whatever, he thought, taking a drag of his cig, eyes roaming over the tranquil waters of the mountain lake. The sun was painting the sky a lovely orange, making him realize the day had passed fast. 

With one hand he reached for the bite wound, hidden under a bandaid, on the side of his neck. It hasn’t been even twenty-four hours since he was bitten and fed on. He smiled, taking another lungful of smoke. The experience had been what his goth heart hoped for, and more.

It hadn’t hurt that much, at least after the initial piercing pain of the fangs ( _fangs!!!_ ) on his skin. The sensation was weird, at first; his own heart beating fast, trying to keep up with the speed as Liz was sucking the blood from the wound, the noises she made as she did so. Oh my, was she aware of those? They were borderline sexual. 

He put a hand on his face trying to hide the blush that was surely forming. 

That moment was taken straight out of the shitty vampire stories he read from time to time - he wasn’t ashamed to admit the existence of his own account in a certain fanfiction webpage, either, where people came up with the exact same ideas for vampire erotica fiction. He was now tempted to write down his experiences and rub it on their faces. Take that! He was living his own vampire fanfiction!

He chuckled at the stupidity of the thought.

“What’s so funny?” _her_ voice brought him out of his silly train of thought. He removed the hand from his eyes, not caring if she saw the remnants of his blush on his pale cheeks.

“Nothing,” he shrugged noncommittally, rubbing the butt of his cigarette on the ground and storing it in a hidden ashtray he had for these occasions. 

“Yeah, sure,” her smile was suspicious, but bright. Her cheeks weren’t pink anymore, he noticed. She was back to being a paler shade and having cold skin. How long would it be until she started showing signs of hunger? “What are you up to?”

“Give me, I can carry it to your home,” he extended a hand towards her enormous backpack, which looked full and heavy. Her smile turned cheeky, showing a fang. “Oh, yeah, superhuman strength. Forgot for a moment there.”

“Still, thanks for offering,” she adjusted her grip, “even if it is really heavy from the stuff I found at the cave.”

“You went down there?” he blinked, slowly. “Abby is going to be so jealous! Her father doesn’t let her adventure around there. He says ‘it’s too dangerous’.” He mimicked Pierre’s voice as much as he could. He didn’t get the reaction he expected, because Liz seemed serious as she put a hand on her chin, thinking.

“Well, it is pretty dangerous, for a human. As I kept going down the monsters became more and more vicious,” she tried to sound apologetic. “I’m sorry but I don’t trust any of you guys down there alone.”

“But you can help!”

She took a step forward, taking one of his hands on hers. She was cold as a stone. He shivered, not only from the cold. “It’s nice for you to believe in me, but I shouldn’t start revealing my secret to everyone here. Not even your friends.”

“I understand,” he sighed. It would be super cool, though, if Sam and Abby knew what their inconspicuous little town hid. “Can I walk with you anyway?” 

“Such a gentleman, but yeah, sure.” She chuckled. “I assume that Demetrius is being difficult again?”

“Nah,” he shrugged, his step-father’s comments back at the front of his mind. “Just the usual.”

He looked at her, not hiding the slight blush, one part of his mind hoping that the darkness of this part of the woods obscured his face enough. If she noticed his weird looks, she didn’t say anything.

“Well, if it helps, I’m planning on setting up internet in the cottage if I have some money left after the coop build, so you could hide there,” her smile was small, and he could picture the red in her cheeks, “on the condition that you don’t smoke my house, please.”

“Oh.” He blinked, not really knowing what to say. It was… nice.

They walked the rest of the way making light conversation, the clinking of the stones and gems she had on her backpack almost making it impossible not to look at the massive thing she carried. It was funny, such a short girl carrying her weight without breaking a sweat; but hey, apparently that was his life now.

“By the way,” he said, unconsciously slowing down as they approached her door, “there’s free wifi covering the whole town. Lewis had it installed hoping it would attract younger people.”

She chuckled. “I hope Netflix works with it, then. I hate buffering.”

“It does… if you are patient. And it is enough for texting,” he shrugged. He stopped in his tracks, remembering. “You don’t even have a phone, right?”

Her smile was evil as she withdrew from her pocket a flip phone that could easily belong in a bad rom-com. Liz arched her eyebrows, flipping it open to show the tiny screen where only the time and phone connection strength were shown. 

Sebastian made a face. “Please, get a new phone. Where did you get this? In 1998?”

“2003, actually. And be respectful, this baby has seen some shit,” she flipped it closed again. “But I guess you are right. I had been using it out of spite, and I may need a new one with fancy apps and stuff.”

“Yes, please. Looking at it almost gave me an ulcer.”

She laughed, opening her door. “Will do. Wanna come in?” she gestured inside.

“Meow!” Lestat made his presence known from somewhere inside, but didn’t come to greet them. 

“Um,” Sebastian’s heard his step-father’s comments in his mind again. He was tired of conflict. And knew that if he entered that door he would spend yet another night with her. “Actually, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Mom and Demetrius said some stuff today… and,” he sighed. For a moment he had considered lying about having work but the thought weighted like a brick in his stomach. “I am too tired to explain, _again,_ that there’s nothing going on between us.”

“I see,” her expression was unreadable, and for a split second she seemed rather sad. Then, she smiled like nothing happened. “Don’t worry. I understand. See you tomorrow?” 

Sebastian blinked in confusion but said, “Yeah.” He took a step back, stuffing his hands in his loyal hoodie pocket. “See you tomorrow.”

He turned, feeling unusually cold. Had he messed up there? Yeah, he had, but, why? How? She had said they were just friends and wasn’t just that the whole joke? That they seemed like there was something but it was just him knowing what she was and covering for her? Just friends. It was fine-

“Hey,” her voice was soft. He should be ashamed of how fast he turned back and looked at her, but after how odd she seemed right then he wasn’t caring about appearances. “I almost forgot. Found this in the mines and it reminded me of you,” she reached for her jeans pocket and walked to him. When she opened her hand over his, a tiny bluish-white stone fell into his palm. “Dunno if it’s valuable or not, but I thought it was pretty,” she shrugged.

Sebastian looked down, speechless. A frozen tear. He always wanted one, but never ventured into the mines to look for one. Too dangerous.

“I really love this,” he whispered. “How did you know?”

Her smile was all fangs. “I guess you like it? Heh.” 

Maybe it was the backdrop of the porch lights, or maybe it was the fireflies that flitted around her, but Liz looked more fantastical than she did under the sunlight. There was no doubt that she was, indeed, a vampire. And she had unknowingly given him the perfect gift.

***

But there was no tomorrow. Or the next day. In fact, they didn’t even see each other until the Egg festival.

It wasn’t like she didn’t want to see him - it was right the opposite. But days meshed with each other as she worked like a dog (the irony wasn’t lost on her, because there was _no way_ she was like those damn wolves) to earn the money for her chickens. 

She had never been so glad of being unable to eat human food. 

When she could sit down and look at the calendar she found out that today was the Egg Festival, which Sebastian had told her he hated profusely. She looked down at her brand new smartphone, where she had installed the texting app right after messing with the configuration, counting how many hours she had before having to go to the event.

Robin had insisted she go. The whole town was coming, and she hadn’t been introduced to everyone, apparently. Abigail told her all about the egg hunting competition, too, daring her to dethrone her from Egg Hunter Queen.

Sebastian… he hadn’t said much. 

Liz sighed, scrolling through her conversation with him. A few messages here and there, a good morning, a silly joke and a photo of him playing the synth that Sam had sent her when he stole his friend’s phone.

_we are playing, btw_

Was the last thing he had texted her. She didn’t understand what he meant at the moment, but soon the handmade flyer about the ‘most amazing rock concert Pelican Town has ever seen’ arrived at her hands. That was three days ago.

Was he mad at her? He was, he totally was. Had she been too forward? He had explained how it bothered him when people assumed they could invade his privacy and personal space when they were friends. So far he had been nice to her, but that didn’t mean she could simply assume he was interested in her; at least not more than the cool vampire friend.

And that was another thing she feared, too. Since she had never really intended long lasting friendship with humans, she never had to consider the fact that once the novelty of her otherness wore off, said humans could lose interest in her.

She cursed under her breath, the hand with her option one shirt to wear today lowering. She was just being stupid, she knew. If they hadn’t been hanging out a lot these days it was because Sebastian didn’t like her anymore. It probably was because he was busy with the concert or work or his mother or whatever. He was his own person and she was overthinking things, as usual.

Or more exactly, as aunt Lauren liked to tell her.

She wasn’t really her aunt, as no one in her coven was really blood related, but it was easier to refer to each other with family roles. And it confused humans less. And aunt Lauren did like to be referred to as ‘aunt’ as she despised the thought of being a mother, even a fake one; and loved to think her role as of the ‘cool wine aunt’ that was all the rave now with the kids.

Lauren was, in reality, a bitch. She tried to be nice and warm and do good things, but her judgemental looks and stick-up-the-ass attitude didn’t really play in her favor. She would tell you forty ways your life was wrong with a smile. And then, she would whack you in the back of the head for being a fool and not listening to her.

Good thing she was kilometres away in their house (mansion, more like) back at Zuzu city. 

For now she would attend this absurd ‘Egg Festival’ and who knows, maybe use her inhuman abilities to teach Abby a lesson about humility.

***

The sun was shining right into Sebastian’s eyes. It was warm, too warm, as the cold from last winter wore off and the heat began to settle in the valley. His clothes didn’t agree with this weather.

With a sigh, he took the hoodie off, feeling the immediate relief of the breeze in his too pale arms. 

“Need a hand here!” Abigail shouted, calling for him as she struggled with her drum set. He ran towards the girl and took one of the boxes to help.

Hauling everything from Sam’s house shouldn’t have been such a chore - it wasn’t that far. The Mayor let them set their stuff on a stage by the fountain, behind the clinic and Pierre’s shop. It didn’t even require a car, which was nice since neither of them had access to one at the moment.

But the _stairs._

Was this on purpose to tire them out? Did the Mayor expect mayhem from the trio and had preventively punished them? Not cool, Lewis. Not cool.

Once Abby’s stuff was where it was supposed to be - they had started with the drums since everything else was easier-, he took out his phone to check if he had new messages. Of course, he didn’t. And by ‘messages’ he meant a sign of life from the farmer. 

Was she avoiding him? She did warn that she had to work extra for the coop and the chickens; but the farmer had been at his house more than once, to discuss building plans with Robin, and she had never come by to say hello to his basement. It felt… sad. 

One hand immediately reached for the healed bite marks on his neck. They didn’t hurt anymore, only leaving the uncomfortable sensation of pulling the scabbed wounds when he moved his head. 

“Thinking about your girlfriend again?” Sam screamed from the other side of the stage, plopping down some amplifiers. “Dude, just call her already.”

It was getting old, with the girlfriend comments. He didn’t bother anymore.

“Liz’s busy, Sam. I don’t wanna bother her.”

“But she’s coming to see us, right?”

“She told me she’d try,” Abigail came by, the stand of his keyboard in her hands. He rushed to help her. 

“Since when are you best friends?” 

“She’s really nice!” the girl answered him. “And actually texts me back more than a few words.” She added, glaring daggers at him.

“You know I’m a man of few words, Abs.” He sighed. It wasn’t their first argument about his lack of enthusiasm in texting. 

“Well, she had asked me if you are mad at her. So be careful, dude.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sam took advantage of the pause to drink water and sit down. “I told her not to worry but I think she didn’t buy it. You guys should talk.”

 _How can we if she’s avoiding me?_ He thought.

“I’ll try, after today. If she even shows up.”

And she did. Shortly after that conversation she was there in her black glory, parasol in hand and ready to spend the day outdoors. He realized this was the first time he saw her around town in the daylight since he _knew_ , and watched closely how everyone interacted with her.

She greeted them politely, with smiles where she carefully didn’t show any fang, keeping as much skin under the parasol as she could and trying not to touch anyone with her bare hands. He wondered why she didn’t wear gloves, but maybe it was too much with the dark clothes and the black parasol. 

Unfortunately he couldn’t approach her for the whole event, his mother needing him to help setting everything up and them doing some last minute practising with his friends, a pause just to watch Abigail being crushed in the egg hunt - he shook his head at Liz when she used her superhuman speed, but laughed anyway. 

When he realized, it was their time to perform and he was having the jitters backstage. He knew they'd do okay, it was just covers of popular songs, and Sam’s intensity with practise from that week had paid off - but he had never played in front of so many people. In front of people whose opinion mattered. 

The farmer had promised to be there, on the front. 

“Okay, guys. We can do this!” Sam was trying hard not to show his nerves, but he was the worst of them all. 

“Yeah. Let’s party this up.”

The Mayor presented them, and under some clapping from his friends and family, the trio walked up the stage. It was small but it got everything they needed. And the sun didn’t hit them in the eyes, which was a plus.

Sebastian could barely hear Sam announcing their (provisional) group name, or Abby’s drumsticks counting the beat. It was a miracle that his hands found the keys in time for his part, because his eyes were fixed on the woman right by the stage, just as promised.

Liz was smiling that smile he loved, the one all fangs and that made her close her eyes for a moment. She waved once she caught him looking at her, hitting him right through the heart. 

He smiled back, and for a few minutes the universe was just them. It was just him playing cheesy pop songs for her, hoping that she could hear his heart beating with the rhythm, his voice rising above the instruments. 

Any doubts he had before vanished with the way her eyes kept wandering back to him for the whole set. And a tiny part of him wanted to believe that her smiles were only for him, too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have some ideas for this, but I write them as I can. The story is chill 100% so it can end whenever.

After the festival, the four of them celebrated their smashing success, Sam’s words, and this time Liz managed to get away with not eating or drinking with them. Maybe it was the trauma from last time, or maybe Abigail was busy fuming with her crushing defeat; whatever the reason, this time she didn’t need to do a hasty escape and stayed until Gus asked all of them - nicely, of course - to leave the Saloon.

Liz was ecstatic! Seb and her had managed to talk for a moment in his smoke break outside, and after learning about his shyness in texting and that no, he wasn’t mad at her, and that he thought _she_ was mad at him - preposterous!

She went home, alone this time, shaking her head at the stupidity of it all. The doubts that had plagued her mind that same morning seemed stupid now. They were friends and if Seb’s adorable blush when she asked if he liked her (as friends! she didn’t dare ask for more) was something to go by, he seemed open to maybe even more than that.

She twirled her parasol in one hand, happy with her discovery.

It wasn’t until she was passing in front of the broken down bus that she felt another vampiric presence, and one she knew well.

_What is she doing here?_

***

Sebastian felt refreshed, less tired and completely ready to face another day in Pelican Town. Days like these were rare. Should he celebrate? 

He shook his head, feeling last night’s celebration in the form of a headache. 

He didn’t have any work for the day and his mom hadn’t bothered him with one of her projects at breakfast, so he assumed he had the day for himself. The possibilities were endless.

But he only wanted to go to one place.

He knew he should be ashamed of how fast he made the decision to walk down the mountain path to the farmer’s cottage, but on such a pretty day he didn’t have place for regrets.

His feet took him right to her door, he prepared to knock. Deep breath, lift his arm and -

Liz opened the door, in yesterday’s clothes, hair all over the place, breathing heavily. “Don’t make a sound.” She whispered.

Sebastian blinked, but nodded quietly. The need for stealth in one’s home was something he was familiar with.

He let the vampire lift him up and seemingly teleport inside her newly made coop, away from whoever was in her house, and under adequate shade. He blushed as she let him down carefully besides her baby chicken, Vlad. On the other side of the building, Carmilla chirped at the disturbance. Last night he had enough time to mock her naming choices.

“My aunt is in the house,” she started, eyes going back towards the coop door, nervous.

For a moment, only the loud chuckling from the chicken filled the air.

“My aunt.” She repeated, like that should have meant something.

“What.”

“I said… she’s my aunt. Like, vampire aunt. Not by blood - and yes bad choice of words.”

Sebastian blinked slowly. “So she… uh… converted you and you call her aunt…?”

“What? No! I was turned by some jackass punk boy at a concert. I think. It was a long time ago.” Liz shook her head. “Whatever! The thing is, she’s a bit… old school.”

“You mean there’s a coffin in your living room?”

Liz pinched her nose bridge. “I mean she considers herself above everyone and …”

“And…”

“And she doesn’t really like humans at _all_. She considers them mere servants.”

He nodded, expecting something like this. 

“And she is sleeping right now. She’s extra cranky when woken during the day.”

“O… kay…?” he nodded again. So, no meeting in the house. Got it. “Should we leave?”

Liz gulped. 

“ _She’ll find us_.”

“You are making her sound like some kind of hitman. What’s going on?” She made a face. “Really.”

“I haven’t told her that I’m supposed to pass as human and I have human friends now.”

“Or that you are a farmer.”

“That too, but mentally I’ll deal with it later.” She sighed, trying to calm down. “Honestly I think she’s here just to check how I’m doing, but her way of caring is a bit…”

The human put his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed. “I get it. Don’t worry. Do you want me to leave?” he asked with a soft voice, tilting his head, trying to project as much calm as he could. 

She nodded, looking down. “Thanks.”

“Say no more,” Sebastian smiled even if he didn’t want to go. “Can you get back on your own?” He said, noticing the lack of suncream on her skin.

She opened her mouth to answer when a voice called from outside.

“Elizabeth! Honey! Why did you leave?”

Sebastian tried to pat her arm when she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Should I run?”

“Wouldn’t make a difference now.” She taped her nose. “She knows you are here.”

“Who are you with, darling? Come into the house and get away from the sun!”

Liz looked to the heavens, looking as she was wondering why. Just why.

“Hey,” he took her hand, noticing how cold she was. Maybe her feeding time was close? “Don’t worry about it. I won’t freak out.”

“I’m more worried about _her_ freaking out and telling the rest of the family how a _disappointment of a vampire I am_ ,” the last he almost didn’t get as she talked low and fast, but by the facial expression she made, he knew that those words carried more feelings.

“If it helps, I think you are really cool and dark and vampiric,” he smiled, doing a gesture towards her very disheveled state, very normal and non-spooky.

Liz rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

“Hold on,” was her only warning as she picked him up, ran back to the house and put him down carefully by the closed door. 

Sebastian didn’t have time to adjust his eyes properly to the change of lighting, or admire how his friend’s skin was literally smoking - instead, all he could see was the very tall lady in a blue nightgown staring at him. 

The woman was pale, with a skin as white as his, strong jaw and broad shoulders, like she was a professional swimmer. Her copper hair looked long and soft, but she had it in a high bun. The only thing missing was the cup of coffee and she was the picture of a grumpy woman who had just woken up.

“Who's this?” somehow, even if it was a question, she didn’t make it sound as such.

“Aunt Lauren, this is Sebastian. Sebastian, my aunt,” his friend made a gesture with her hand, as if it wasn’t still smoking from the sun exposure.

Lauren got close, closer than what he was comfortable with, checking his face, his hair, his clothes - even pinching his cheek!

“A snack?” The other woman's smile was bright, delighted. Before he could avoid it, the vampire took his hand and bit his wrist. It barely gave him time to register the pain.

“No!” Liz jumped to his aid, pushing Aunt Lauren back. “A _friend_!” she hissed, taking Sebastian’s bleeding hand to pull him behind her, protective. “No biting!”

The older vampire arched an eyebrow as she licked the leftover crimson from her lips, then walked swiftly around his friend, snatched him by the collar of the hoodie, pushing it down to expose the healed bite wounds on his skin.

“Oh yeah? It looks like you already got a sip.” 

Sebastian blushed. “It was…”

“An emergency!” Liz tried to swat away the hand on his person, failing when Aunt Lauren picked him up like he was merely a doll, swinging his body around, dodging the young vampire by inches. 

“Uh-huh.” Lauren snorted, letting go of the human boy, pushing him toward Liz, who stopped him before he tripped and fell. “I would close that wound, darling, or the poor boy will bleed out.”

Sebastian looked down at his hand, not surprised to find red everywhere, coloring his black hoodie an even darker colour. Huh, the bite didn’t feel so deep?

His friend grumbled, murmuring something about pesky aunts and messy bites, taking his hand and looking at him, asking for permission. He nodded in a daze, because what else could he do? The vampire pressed her mouth against his wrist, biting him as softly as she could, licking immediately. It wasn’t like the other time - she wasn’t trying to drink more than was necessary to clean the wound, letting her bat-like magical saliva do its job.

When she finished, he watched as she withdrew, her lips swollen and her fangs elongated, pink tongue licking any remaining blood on her teeth. Her eyes were slitted brown-burgundy for a split second before she closed her eyes - controlling her thirst, he supposed. 

Liz took a deep breath, one hand combing her hair back, away from her face, as her fangs receded back to their usual inconspicuous state, where you only noticed they weren’t quite human if you knew where to look. Then she opened her eyes, back to their usual dark brown, and she smiled.

 _Oh no, she’s hot,_ he thought, trying to push down the obvious blush creeping up to his cheeks.

He opened his mouth, probably about to make a fool of himself, when a knock was heard from the front door.

“Liz? Girl, ditch the farm and come hang out!”

Oh, Abby. Right on time.

He looked at the farmer, she looked back at thim. Both turned towards the older vampire still standing with a smile that had no trace of mirth in it.

“More snacks?” she purred, taking a step towards the door. “You shouldn’t have!”

His friend jumped just before her aunt could touch the door knob, wrestling the woman back to her bedroom. “Time to sleep, auntie,” she singsonged between grunts of effort. Once she managed to get them a good distance from the door, Liz made gestures for him to leave, mouthing _“Go, go!”_.

He nodded, running to open and close the door behind him as fast as he could, trying to block Abby’s and Sam’s vision of the inside of the house.

“Heyyyy,” he smiled nervously. “Watcha doing here, guys?”

Sam yelped when he saw him there, a stupid smile on his face. Abby was smiling too, but she was crossing her arms. “Another night with the girlfriend?”

“She’s not - whatever.” He took a deep breath, still hearing the struggle inside the house. They had to go. “I was checking on her too, but she already said she’s busy.”

“Uh-huh,” his friends weren’t buying it. Maybe if he wasn’t trying to cover for a very real vampire wrestling another thirsty vampire to bed he would be embarrassed about it. But he was on a mission.

“Anyway, she’s kinda busy now,” he put his best act and shrugged. “She said she’ll text if she’s free later.” Somewhere inside the house, a loud _thump!_ was heard, followed by Liz cursing. Before any of his friends could ask about it, he smiled and asked: “So… wanna go check out the Wizard Tower?”

* * *

Liz kept her hand on her aunt’s mouth until she couldn’t hear them anymore, probably the guys were well on their way to the Wizard Tower. Oh man… she wanted to go too!

She maneuvered Lauren around the sunlight flooding in from the opened curtains, which she was positive she hadn’t touched today, and dropped her on the only bed in her humble home. She hastily closed the curtains and thought again of buying a darker one, turning around to find her aunt Lauren looking at her with a knowing look.

“You know I only -”

“Do this because you care. I know.” Liz sighed. “That doesn’t mean you get to be this pushy and mean about it.”

“Nah, I just like messing with you.” Lauren smiled, tucking herself in the bed. “You make a funny face when you’re angry.”

“I do not-”

“And that little human of yours is delicious!” she licked her lips, closing her eyes to go back to sleep. “Honestly I approve.”

“Ok…”

“Hm…” Lauren started to murmur something, but she was fast asleep in seconds, betraying how tired the other woman had really been. 

Liz sighed in relief, for a moment basking in the quiet morning and soft chirping of the birds outside. 

This wasn’t how her day was supposed to go. She was supposed to have a good night’s sleep and then work on her farm and enjoy her recently acquired chickens, watching them go about in their little feet. Maybe see Sebastian? Which it seemed he had the same idea, no matter how ill-timed his arrival had been.

Oh, Yoba… Her aunt _had_ to bite him? She knew she did it to mess around with “her” stuff. Not that she considered him “hers” or anything like that - vampires, specifically old vampires, tended to be a bit overprotective and possessive about the most silly things, in her humble opinion.

Humans, in particular, were a touchy subject for these old vampires. This concept of familiars? There’s no such thing, now with internet and the world being a more accomodating place for vampires; but for so long vampires needed a human to tend to their needs that the only reason a vampire kept a human around was to either feed from them, fuck them or use them as a slave. Or a combination of the three of them.

She shuddered. Her relationship with Sebastian wasn’t like that. It’d _never_ be like that.

Well, a tiny voice screamed in her head, she _did_ feed on him, tho - twice! 

She facepalmed. There wasn’t going to be a third time. She couldn’t do that to him - reduce their friendship to something like that. Friends didn’t do that to each other. It didn’t matter the cute blush he had or the look in his face when she bit him before… It didn’t matter that she wanted to sink her fangs in his skin again. She couldn’t bite him again.

That's final.

***

Sebastian wanted Liz to bite him again.

All the time as the trio explored the forest near the Wizard Tower, Sebastian’s mind went back to his friend’s long and sharp fangs, her red lips with his own blood and her slitted pupils. Oh man… that did _things_ to his heart.

He was aware that he couldn’t be her donor for a while, since the last time she took a lot (he _fainted_ , even) and he was painfully aware of how blood worked and he had to wait at least a few weeks until he could pull a stunt like that again-

“Thinking about the girlfriend?” 

He jumped, pulled out from his recent memories of fangs in his skin.

He shrugged. “What if I was?”

Sam blinked and looked at Abigail, obviously not having expected this answer at all. “Ok…”

“Dude, it’s no fun if you don’t blush and get all flustered,” Abby put her hands in her jeans pockets, grimacing. “What happened last night that made you so…” she made vague gestures at his person, “comfortable?”

 _We talked like adults, and she said she liked spending time with me and she had felt that connection too. Also, this morning I met her crazy aunt that tried to eat me on the spot._ “Dunno,” he shrugged again. “We talked and stuff.”

They gave him the stinky eye, knowing there was more going on. Well, they didn’t know about their conversation outside the Saloon last night, and what they didn’t know didn’t hurt them.

“It’s just- we are cool now. We talked, really. I told her I don’t really like texting, like you said,” he shrugged, “and we made up.”

Sam seemed delighted, but Abby didn’t look like she wanted to let it go. Before she opened her mouth to keep pushing, Sebastian pointed out that they were at the Wizard Tower, and started baiting Sam into walking up the steps to knock on the door.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Sebastian took advantage of a moment his friends were busy bickering in front of the door - seriously, it was a mystery how the Wizard hadn’t come out to complain or something - to check who it was. 

_hey, i’m sorry_  
_for before_  
😔

Of course. He smiled and typed a quick response. 

_don’t worry_ 😝

He had discovered that using emojis made misunderstanding less common when he typed. He still used them sparsely, though. He was not _Abby_ , for fuck sake.

_still, I feel bad_  
_my aunt shouldn’t have bitten u_

_it’s okay_

He wondered for a moment if those words were somehow enough to portray how much impact her face when she cleaned the bite made the pain worth it. Alas, she was genuinely worried about him, and he knew she was lowkey waiting for the moment the whole vampirism became too much for him. Maybe he had to make it clear that he was _more_ than okay?

_you kissed it better_

He smiled, imagining her non-blushing flustered face at his words.

Looking down at his wrist, he admitted that the bite had been a bit too much. It was still bleeding slowly, nothing grave, just some red drops joining the already dark stain in his hoodie. He had to remind himself to clean it once he was home and avoid his mother until he could erase the evidence.

“Seb?”

Sam called his attention from the Wizard tower, where the man himself seemed like he was fed up with the noise and had decided to kick them out. Or not? The Wizard was standing at the opened door, gesturing towards the inside, a cup of steaming drink in his hands.

“What.”

“M.Rasmodius has invited us inside his tower!” Abigail called from inside, already having accepted said invitation. Sam seemed uncertain, waiting for him at the opened door.

Sebastian looked at the Wizard, who looked tired. They shared an exasperated look before he looked down at his phone, noticing how Liz hadn’t responded yet, blocking it and pocketing the device. When he looked up again, the Wizard’s eyes were in his bloodied wrist, barely visible since the hoodie was already pretty dark. He fought down the urge to hide his hand, taking a defensive stance.

M. Rasmodious barely even blinked. He smirked at him and took a sip of his cooling drink, walking back inside.

What a weird man. Since he came to the valley he always was super weird and reserved, not making an appearance at the town’s events or talking to anybody. He had always thought he was a senile hermit, but hey, he was friends with an actual vampire, so? He would ask Liz later about him.

Still, he blushed, like a child found with their hand inside the cookie jar. He has to be more discreet about the bites.

Sam shuffled in his feet. “Are you coming in?” He hadn’t missed the looks, but Sebastian knew the blond hadn't caught anything that went through them.

“Yeah.” He said, pushing down the wristband of his hoodie, just in case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan more vampire shenanigans, so stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have zero impulse control. I blame a very good Castlevania fanfic with plenty vampire content that inspired me.

Summer.

It was… hot.

Liz now realized her mistake in coming here. There weren’t many luxuries she missed from the mansion back at Zuzu City, but air conditioning sure was one of them. Winter? That she could stand. Her body temperature was naturally lower and she didn’t need much to be comfortable in the cold - heck, she could even light the ancient chimney at the cottage and hope the house’s interior doesn’t become black from the smoke.

But the heat.... Let’s say vampires weren’t _exactly_ made for the intense heat. And the sun! Summer days were way too long for her taste.

“I’m meeeeeeelting....” she huffed, pouring a glass of ice water over her head. Sebastian, who was sitting under the shade beside her, snickered and sipped his drink. Liz eyed his cold glass of soda and not for the first time envied his ability to drink cold beverages. 

Anything she could actually drink or eat would be too hot for this weather.

They were under her enormous parasol, which she had acquired the moment she was told they wanted to go to the beach (Yoba bless the internet and fast delivery). And now, she and Sebastian watched as Abby and Sam tried to splash water into each other at the shore.

“Why don’t you join them?” She made a gesture with her chin, ignoring the freezing droplets running down her overheated skin. 

“I have sensitive skin,” he put his drink down on the sand, picking up his shades and leaning back to rest on the towel he brought. 

“Yeah, me too. What a coincidence.” She answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He smiled and then went back to resting. 

Liz sighed, looking envily at her friends enjoying the water. She didn’t usually curse her nature, just so you know. She liked being a vampire. She had liked it since some asshole turned her in a dark alley after a concert of an obscure punk rock band no one heard before. She had liked it when her coven adopted her and she liked it, albeit a bit less, each time they had to move around to evade suspicion. 

However, she had to concede that the burning under sunlight thing was annoying. Yeah, she could bathe in cream and use parasols and stuff, but some things were way too risky for her to do.

Like the Flower Dance, where, similar to today, she had to sit and watch everyone have fun under the sun as she got toasted under a black parasol. At least this time she had Sebastian to keep her company and he wasn’t forced to do that little dance in the horrible outfit the bachelors and bachelorettes of the town were forced to wear. 

Still, it was sweet that the whole town seemed set on making her feel included - how Emily rushed to make a dress for her (asking if it was okay for it to be white) or how Leah offered to teach her the dance. Even Abby, who disliked the dance with passion, was trying to convince her to join them - making some cryptic comments about don’t minding stepping out or even dancing with Sam. She later understood she meant that because she was the assigned dance partner of Sebastian, and was trying not to “get in the way” in whatever she thought was going on between them.

Not that they had made any progress. The interest was there, she felt it, she could almost _taste_ it; but neither did the first step. Flirting and double entendre all you want - after aunt Lauren left (her departure was as sudden as her arrival, she simply left one day leaving a note about having fun and sharing the news with the rest of the family, whatever she meant by that), Sebastian had practically moved to her house. Installing an internet connection had been a good idea after all, and apparently he had a laptop which he now left in her house where he could do _some_ work, coming back home only for stuff he needed the other computer for and get a change of clothes.

She wasn’t complaining, he agreed to be her test subject for cooking projects, claiming that free food was always welcomed, and it was nice to come home to a company other than her cat. Not that Lestat liked Seb, as the animal tried to let him know every time it had an opportunity.

Anyway, she tried to get back to the present. The farm was doing okay and she was okay and nothing could bother her-

“Watch out!” was the only warning she had before a beach ball appeared in front of her face. She caught it, her claws elongating by reflex, and the ball started to deflate with a pathetic whooshing sound.

Liz blinked.

Huh.

“Sorry?” she said, realizing she had pierced the plastic with one nail, retracting them quickly. But the damage was done. “Uh…”

“Woah!” Sam stopped in his tracks, splashing sand everywhere.

“Sam!” Sebastian angrily started to cough up sand.

“What the heck, dude!” the blond ignored his friend, choosing to focus on the ruined ball in Liz’s hands. “What happened?”

“Uh… it… broke.” Liz thought briefly to hide the evidente but now even Abby was looking at her hands. “It was an accident.” She smiled apologetically.

“How?”

“Maybe it wasn’t that good, Sam,” Seb took the mess from her hands and turned it around, looking for the hole. “Or Vincent broke it and didn’t tell you?”

Sam narrowed his eyes, still fixed on the deflated ball. “Nah, he wouldn’t do that.”

Sebastian shrugged, masterfully concealing any panic; unlike Liz, who was busying herself with the suncream tube in an effort to hide her wide eyes. 

“Who knows?” he said, putting the plastic away. “But now you need a new beach ball.”

The blond groaned, but Liz’s eyes were fixed on how Abigail frowned looking at the half-hidden ruined ball besides Sebastian. _Uh-oh,_ she thought.

***

“Okay then,” Abby was saying as she folded her towel, “let’s go Sam.”

Sebastian squinted when the sunset got in his eyes when he looked up as his friends picked up the last of their stuff to go home. “Text me when you get home.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Sam smirked, looking between his friend and Liz besides him, who was sleeping peacefully under the shade. “Have fun.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. That wasn’t even funny anymore.

“See you guys tomorrow,” the purple haired girl took Sam by the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him away, leaving them alone at last.

Sebastian sighed, making sure once more that the vampire at his side was properly covered from the sunlight, wondering if it hurt her as much at this time of the day. He had assumed it did when he moved the giant parasol around to protect her, since she fell asleep some time after dunking a bucket of ice water over her head, angry when she couldn’t eat ice-cream with the guys.

He chuckled. It was a bummer she couldn’t eat ice-cream, but her face had been the funniest thing he had seen in awhile.

He didn’t want to wake her yet, Sebastian looking at the setting sun beyond the horizon of the sea. She had a shitty few last weeks, with her aunt wreaking havoc and stuff, and then overworking herself to prepare for the summer crops. Also, his friend suddenly decided to cave in and accept his mother’s offer to expand the cottage, adding the kitchen and another separate bedroom. He blushed like crazy the day she surprised him with the offer of giving it to him whenever he stayed over.

That day he had looked at all of his stuff thrown around the floor of the living room, his laptop over the table and his shoes next to hers by the door and… well. It felt too much, too early; but at the same time it was okay? Like, he had never felt this comfortable with anybody, not enough to expand himself all over the place like he had in her house. Not even in his humble basement room in his mother’s house he was as comfortable - he found he enjoyed the sunlight hitting his eyes in the morning and quietly drinking coffee watching Liz work at vampire speed on the crops and listen to her singing under her breath as he worked in his laptop and-

Yeah.

He loved her. At this point he had had enough conversations with himself to accept the fact that he loved her more than a friend; that what he felt for her had been lodged deep in his heart and the feeling went beyond his fascination over her nature or her beauty or her body or anything like that. She was those things and more - she was the way her brows furrowed when she tried her hardest not to break stuff (normally failing and having to replace vases all the time); or how she groaned when she got home from the mines, complaining about slime goop; or how she really liked cooking even if she couldn’t taste anything she made. She was amazing.

He thought she liked him back, she wouldn’t have offered a room at her house - practically asking him to move in with her - if she at least didn’t tolerate his presence. But it was the way she looked at him and smiled whenever he entered her house, or how excited she seemed to be talking about her stuff with him, what sold him. More than once he caught her looking at his lips and well, one guy could dream, right? 

Still, a part of him doubted anything would come out of their friendship. She was an eternal being and he was just... human. She hadn’t bitten him again or mentioned anything having to do with biting again, and he knew she had fed sometime last week. He tried not to let it affect him, but it did. Of course he wasn’t owed an explanation, she was her own person and if she didn’t want to feed from him again she didn’t have to ask him for permission to bite other people or anything - but it hurt somewhat. Maybe he had read too much vampire fanfiction on the internet and had assumed things, but he was super okay with her feeding from him. It was just blood, he had a lot of that to spare. The pain part he could live without, but that didn’t deter him from offering.

Maybe she had assumed it was a one-time thing? They hadn’t discussed that part of their relationship properly. Didn’t vampires have familiars or something like that? Was willing human donors such a rare thing she didn’t believe he wanted to go through it again?

He _guessed_ that maybe there was some kind of stigma with having a relationship with a human - humans were, after all, food for vampires.

Did she see him as “just” food?

He shivered at the thought. It was wrong, very, very wrong. He hoped that wasn’t the case, especially since, if that was the situation going on, he had misread her signals dramatically wrong.

At that moment she started to wake up, groaning before stretching. Her foot went beyond the shade of the parasol, starting to smoke a little bit, but Liz didn’t seem alarmed by it.

“Where’s the sun?”

He looked up at her, trying to banish his thoughts. “You snore.”

“I don’t,” Liz sat up, punching him slightly on the shoulder. “And where’s everyone?” she looked around, noticing the lack of Sam and Abby. Heck, not even Willy was fishing by his store on the docks. They were alone.

He shook his head.

“The guys went home a while ago. I didn’t want to ditch you so I stayed.”

“You could have woken me up,” she frowned, “Robin’s probably wondering where you are.”

Both knew Robin didn’t do that anymore. By the looks Liz got every time she went by to talk about the expansion plans for the cottage, his family had assumed he had moved in with her already and marriage was on its way.

“Nah, you looked tired,” he glanced back at the sunset, admiring how the last few rays clinged to the sky, refusing to go. “And I don’t have any hurry to go back home.”

His heart did a weird jump when he internalized his words. Since when the tiny cottage and messy farm had become “home”??

Sebastian looked at her from the corner of his eye, trying to gauge her expression at his slip of the tongue. She didn’t blush or anything, but smiled as she looked at the sunset too.

“The beach is nice, though.” She said before standing up and shaking any remaining sand from her person. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, black and white with bat motifs (she had smiled giddily when she showed him, like it was the funniest joke ever); but he wasn’t sure why she even bought it if she couldn’t get in the water.

Well, he _did_ have his own beach trunks on, despite never getting in the water either.

“Come swim with me,” her voice made him focus on her stretched hand, the sunset on her back making her beautiful brown skin look like a goddess’. 

“Doesn’t the sun hurt you?” he asked as he accepted her offering and let himself be pulled up by her. She had been more comfortable using her natural strength around him lately.

“Nope. Not when is this weak. I told you, direct sunlight is the problem.” Liz was smiling, grasping his hand to guide him to the sea. “Ahhh, this is nice!” she said when she buried her feet in the wet sand near the shore.

It was nice. The sun had warmed the water and with night making its way to the sky it wasn’t as hot anymore, making the balance of temperature more bearable. 

He allowed a tiny smile in response, his eyes going down at their joined hands. “Yeah, it is.”

He followed her deeper into the water, his hand in hers, trying to burn this memory into his brain to look back in the future, doubtful it’d happen again. Once they were submerged up to their shoulders, she stopped pulling him and let go, dunking her head into the sea.

She came back up, giggling as she pushed her hair away from her face, looking like a wet cat. “Ah! This is _perfect!_ ” she said, turning around to smile at him.

Ah. His heart did some unprompted somersaults, beating like crazy at the sight of her smile, all fangs, all natural, all her.

He gulped, hoping she couldn’t hear it, knowing she could anyway. She didn’t comment if she did.

“Um…,” he licked his lips, finding them chapped. His throat was dry as well. “So you like the beach?” it was a miracle his voice didn’t crack.

“Yeah! What I hate is sunlight for obvious reasons; but I really like bathing and swimming in the sea.” She swimmed away, testing the waters. “I love it when it rains.”

“Because there’s no sun?”

“Smart guy,” she looked at him before diving into the water.

He stood there, waiting for her, wondering what on earth was going on. He looked around, noticing again how no one was there. No one to witness them, no one prying on their business, no one asking questions about how close they were. No rush, no responsibilities, no farm to take care of.

Sebastian took a deep breath, relaxing.

“Boo!” Liz emerged besides him, making him jump and lose whatever relaxation he had managed to get.

“Not funny,” he said, glaring at her, one hand on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart, this time for a very different reason than before. “I almost had a heart attack.”

“C’mon, don’t be dramatic.” Liz said, laughing at his face, no doubt. She put a hand on his shoulder for balance as her body was trembling with giggles. “And it’s very funny to me.” He struck his tongue in protest. “Don’t be childish, or I’ll bite your tongue off!” 

He turned to face her fully, getting closer to her face to keep his tongue out and glare at her jokingly. His determination faltered when her eyes traveled down to his mouth and she licked her lips.

They were close, very close; and even if it wasn’t the first time they had been this close, it was the first time that nothing was going to separate them, be it their responsibilities or an interruption. 

Neither said anything, just letting the sound of the waves crashing on the sand be the background noise as they looked into each other’s eyes. Sebastian knew he must be blushing, he felt his face hot enough for the red to appear on his cheeks. He wondered if she would have blushed if she had just feeded.

Liz took a deep breath. “We should probably talk about it.”

He knew what she was talking about. Of course he did. But he just wasn’t brave enough to face it. Yet. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes, placing one cold and wet hand on his cheek. “You know.”

“I don’t.” He smirked. Now he was just teasing.

She caught on it. “You do! C’mon, do I have to say it out loud?”

“Say what?” 

She put both hands on his flaming cheeks, locking his head in place. He couldn’t escape now, not that he had any desire to do so. He looked at her lips, scrunched in an annoyed expression.

“I like you. And I _think_ you like me. There. I said it first.”

Sebastian took a sharp breath. Hearing it from her lips was different than imagining it. He could feel his face become red as a tomato. 

“M-Maybe.” He looked away instinctively, but was unable to turn his head.

“Say it.”

His eyes roamed back to her face, her deep brown eyes that seemed black under the night sky. One wave crashed especially loud near them.

“I do have feelings for you.” His voice was stronger than he thought it would be. “I like you. I have liked you for a while.”

“Cool.” She said, but didn’t let go. “Because then this won’t be as awkward if you didn’t.”

Before he could ask what she was talking about, she crashed her lips against his in the kiss that should have happened long ago. She was cold, burning against his heated skin, but her lips were softer than he imagined they’d be. She moved with decision, like this was something she was confident in doing. 

In his mind, there was only static.

Finally, after what felt like eons, she let go completely. Her eyes searching in his if he was okay with what she did, if he had liked it. 

Sebastian blinked, slightly dazed. Another wave crashed close.

“I…, uh…” he blinked again, trying to focus on Liz. “You…” He looked at her lips, zeroing in them and incapable of looking away. For a brief second he considered restraint, but it was thrown out of the window the moment she made the first step. He had been dreaming about this for way too long!

He jumped forward, grasping her by the shoulders, hoping he could be more eloquent with his kiss than he was with words. Hoping she could understand how bright his world had become since she came there, how she had filled something he didn’t know he lacked in his life. 

“Thanks,” he finally said when they drew apart. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.”

“Same here,” she smirked. She got close to him, her lips a breath away. “Now kiss me again.”

He smiled against her inviting lips. “As you wish.”

“Heh, nice referen-” 

This time he wasn’t as soft, his hands going from her shoulders to the base of her skull, grasping at the short hairs he found there. He pressed his body against hers, trying to feel as much of her skin as he could, searching for more contact. She obliged, placing her cold hands on his chest, right over his rapid beating heart.

He licked her lower lip, wondering if she was willing to deepen the kiss. When she did he didn’t know what surprised him more, how fast she had accepted or how easy her tongue darted inside his mouth, devouring him. She traced his tongue and then his blunt teeth, biting his lower lip softly as he drew back to breathe.

His mouth tasted funny, salty and like… iron?

One of his hands flew to his lip to check and indeed, she had broken a bit of skin there with her teeth, drawing a drop of blood. He looked up from his red stained fingers to her now slitted eyes, wondering if she was hungrier than he had expected.

She snapped back into attention, the burgundy disappearing from her eyes and the pupils going back to rounded. She opened her mouth, probably to apologize, but he didn’t give her the chance to do so.

He kissed her again with just as much passion, tasting his own blood when she opened her mouth, this time pushing his tongue inside her mouth hoping she got the message that he didn’t mind a bit of blood here and there. 

Carefully, knowing how sharp they could be, he traced her elongated fangs, focusing on the blunt side and not passing his tongue over the tips. She at first was a bit hesitant, but as soon as he got braver with her fangs she seemed more into the kiss, even licking the small wound in his lip as an apology.

He was panting when they parted, completely out of breath, but smiling. “I don’t mind being bitten, Liz. I thought you knew that by now.”

“But… you… I…” this time she was speechless, her eyes going down to the cut in his lip, which wasn’t bleeding anymore. “I shouldn’t…”

He frowned slightly, but didn’t let go of her. “Why? Is it forbidden or something?”

“No! No it’s not.” 

“Then…? Hey,” he moved, trying to get her attention back when she looked away. “You can tell me. I won’t get mad.”

“Dude, how could you? You have been nothing but nice about the whole vampire thing. I couldn’t ask of you to…” her eyes drifted to the almost invisible by now scar on the side of his exposed neck. 

“Liz. Look at me,” he held her gaze when she did, “I don’t mind, really. I mean, I know how it works. You guys need a familiar, right? And you said a willing donor was much better -”

“No! A familiar is not necessary,” she made that expression that, if she had recently fed, she would be red as a tomato. “That concept is outdated.”

“But I want to help you. I’m right here and I know what you are. Besides, you don’t have to take too much all the time. We could just space it out, you’d take a bit every time, and I’ll eat the delicious and nutritious food you prepare.”

“You just want free food.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Maybe.” Sebastian smirked before going serious again. “Do I have to sign a contract or something…?”

She huffed, wrestling to get away from him. He offered no resistance, a bit hurt by her rejection.

Liz crossed her arms over her chest. “No. I don’t need a familiar. But!” she said, probably since his face showed his disappointment. “I could use a boyfriend.” She lifted her eyebrows suggestively.

It was his turn to blush. “Is there a difference?”

For a second, she seemed offended. Then she uncrossed her arms and got close to him again, resting her head in his chest. He guessed it was an excuse not to look at him in the eye. 

“Familiars are just… objects. Things to bite. Things to fuck. Things to use and then discard.” She hugged him tightly in the middle, her voice muffled against his skin. “You are not a thing to me.”

His previous worries flashed to the front of his mind. He hugged her back, saying “Or food?”

She snorted. “I mean, you _are_ a snack.” It was fortunate that she couldn’t see his face, since he was sure it was red by the way he felt it as hot as the sun. “But no, I wouldn’t dare approach you _only_ for your blood.”

“But you want it.”

She sighed. “Yes. I’ll admit it is way easier if I fed from you.”

“Then you can.”

She was silent for a while. He took the comfort in the thought that she hadn’t let go yet.

“I won’t put your health at risk. It’s my only condition.” She disentangled herself from him to finally look at him face to face. “Are we clear?”

It was reasonable. He nodded. “Okay.”

“Now,” her smile turned cheeky, “about the ‘boyfriend’ thing…”

His smile was small as he grasped her chin, angling her face upwards to meet her lips with his, glad that that specific conversation was over. 

“If you ask nicely, maybe I’ll accept,” he murmured against her lips before kissing her again.

“You are insufrible.” She huffed against his lips.

“But you love me,” his eyes followed her arms as she looped them around his head, pulling him down. 

“Maybe,” was her only response before flushing her body against his and claiming his lips pushing them open with her tongue. She still tasted like his blood.

Of all the fantasies and dreams he could have had about this moment, Sebastian wasn’t sure that one included a bloodied kiss under a moonless sky, shoulder deep in the cooling water at the beach. But hey, his girlfriend was a vampire. Anything could be possible from now on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is the one that ups the rating. You filthy bastards.
> 
> Yes, there's going to be more porn in later chapters.

The door to her cottage slammed open, but neither of them was watching where they were going. Somewhere from the sofa, Lestat complained loudly, but since it was ignored the cat decided to walk elsewhere, probably where it wasn’t going to be disturbed.

“Ngh!” she felt Sebastian more than heard him when his back collided with the wall next to her door.

“Sorry,” she said quickly against his lips. It was difficult to measure her strength around humans.

“It’s okay,” he breathed, making her open her eyes. Looking up from her fists around his t-shirt, she found a blushing Sebastian, his tousled hair over his right eye. “I…” he got even redder than before, biting his lower lip, his eyes glancing away from hers.

“You ‘kinda like it’?” Liz arched an eyebrow. 

After confessing to each other, the water got too cold for the human so they decided to go back to the sand until they got bored. In that time, they had talked about anything and everything; things they liked about each other or what they expected from now on in their relationship. 

The conversation turned steamy when he let slip a certain thought he had about her chest. From then on she had bullied him into admitting what he liked about her. So far, he had confessed to liking her fangs and her claws, making her notice a pattern she _had_ to confirm - he may look like a mall goth boy, but she knew not to judge people by their appearance. But no, he really liked her being a vampire, like the emo boy he was.

For a split second she feared that was the _only_ thing he liked about her - that once the novelty was over he may lose interest in her; but he had jumped to assure her that wasn’t the case, launching into an almost poetic tirade under the night about the tiny things he liked about her that _weren’t_ about vampirism.

It was super cheesy and he admitted that poetry wasn’t his forte. She made him promise not to write her a balad any time soon.

“So you like it rough, huh?” she hissed lowly, watching his pupils dilate as his face got hotter and hotter.

“Ah…,” he closed his eyes, “please don’t say it out loud.”

She snorted, leaning in for another kiss, just a touch of the lips. “But you do.”

“I won’t tell,” he stood very still, turning his face away, hiding from her knowing smile. 

“You do! You told me!”

“Uh-huh,” he turned further away.

Liz clicked her tongue, eyeing his lips. He was taller than her and another kiss was difficult to reach if he was being this stubborn, as she was already on the tip of her toes. She looked a bit down and found the healed and barely visible scars of her bite - perfectly aligned with the carotid artery on the side of his neck.

“You said,” she breathed against his skin, “‘I really like it when you get rough, Liz’.”

“No!”

“And then,” she kissed the bite mark, “you said ‘Your fangs turn me on like woah!’” She kissed again, licking the skin there.

“Stop lying!” he laughed at the absurdity of her words, but was still very red. “I never said any of that.”

“ _And then_ you said,” she let her fangs out a bit, barely scratching the healed skin, “‘I’m a sucker for pain and I want you to bite me all the time!’ I think those were your words.”

“That’s not how-!”

“So you admit it?”

Sebastian bonked his head against the wall, snorting. “Fine! Fine. Whatever. I have a kink. Go call the kink police or something.”

Whatever Liz was going to say next was lost as she choked on a laugh. “The ‘what’ police!?” she murmured against his neck, retracting the fangs. She took a step back, holding on his shoulder as she laughed.

“The police for kinks. The kink police,” he smiled at her, still red. “They come for people with weird kinks to put them in the kink jail.”

She snorted, stepping closer to him. “You are weird.”

He smirked down at her, the blush going down. “But you love it?”

Liz smiled fondly and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Maybe.” She let him go and looked down at their slight sand trail into the cottage, wincing. “I have sand in unspeakable places, I want to shower before anything else.”

He followed her gaze. “I’ll clean this up in the meantime.”

Sebastian walked to where the cleaning supplies were, because he obviously did, and grabbed the broom. 

“Don’t you wanna join me in the shower?” she asked, lowkey nervous about asking it. If he noticed her voice trembling he didn’t say anything about it.

Instead, he peeked from behind the broom closet door, smiling. “Maybe next time.”

***

Some time later, and after he had a shower too, Sebastian found himself in her bed with a vampire between his legs as they watched some action movie on his laptop, which had now become a permanent computer in the cottage. 

Outside the wind blew with fury, making the night a rather cold one for the season. Inside they had the chimney and each other. And maybe having an inhuman girlfriend had its perks, as he wasn’t getting overheated.

Girlfriend.

Ah.

Yeah, she was his girlfriend. He still couldn’t believe this was real. In the bathroom he allowed himself a moment to be all giddy about it, smiling like an idiot at his reflection, replaying their moment at the beach again and again. They had kissed and everything. He brushed his teeth again, just in case, actively ignoring the fact that he had a toothbrush in her bathroom since a week ago.

“You don’t like the movie?” her voice made him snap back to reality. He looked down at her, finding her face really close. He kissed her, because he could now, apparently.

“I was just thinking.”

“About?” she arched an eyebrow.

“Things,” he smiled when she glared at him, not liking his vague answers. “About us,” he shrugged as if he didn’t feel his cheeks heat up.

“Uh-huh.”

“About… How lucky I am?” 

She narrowed her eyes, knowing that was bullshit. “If you didn’t like the movie you just had to say so.”

“No! I-I was just thinking, I swear!”

She turned fully to see him eye to eye, shuffling carefully. Liz put her hands on his legs, her eyes a deep brown, almost black, as she playfully glared at him. He swallowed down the knot on his throat.

“Because if you didn’t like the movie…” she smiled, and he noticed how she didn’t hide her elongated fangs. It seems she had internalized he really didn’t mind them. “... then we can do other stuff.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“Where does this come from?”

“Wasn’t that what you were thinking about?” She inched closer. He didn’t know where to look - her blazing eyes, her fangs or her hands travelling up his body, caressing softly over his t-shirt.

“I’m not _that_ horny all the time.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Uh-huh,” he murmured when she got closer, her lips now ghosting over his. He looked into her eyes again, caving in and grabbing her shoulders, pressing their bodies together.

Her kisses only got better, he thought. He hadn’t had much experience in this field, the dating scene in the town wasn’t very prolific, and making out with Abby became weird when they decided to stop dating; but he could definitively declare he loved her kissing him. 

She commanded the kisses, taking from him, drinking him in as her tongue made routes in his mouth. But she wasn’t rough, she was rather soft and careful, edging his tongue to join her and play around, teasing the roof of his mouth with the tip, passing the broad side of her tongue over his blunt teeth.

He hadn’t tried to venture inside her mouth, mainly because some very sharp fangs, but a mix of morbid curiosity and momentarily bravery pushed him into trying this time.

After taking air, he positioned his hands behind her head, fingers getting tangled in her black locks, licking her lips open and pushing his tongue inside, earning a surprised yelp.

“Hey!” she protested.

She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but then his tongue touched the very sharp fangs he wanted to avoid and the immediate taste of his blood told him he had already messed up.

“Sorry, sorry!” he apologized, letting her go in case she wanted to reconsider and regroup.

She blinked as she pulled back, her lips as red as her eyes, her fangs out in full glory, and her brows knitted together.

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“No! No, I swear.” He still could taste the iron. Talking hurt, proving his tongue had been cut. Ouch. “I just wanted… ouch, I, uh…”

“Does it hurt?” she reached towards him, her thumb cleaning the corner of his mouth. “Let me see.”

He opened his mouth as he wondered if it was difficult for her to talk with the fangs in the way. Apparently not.

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” he said, careful with the cut. “And I told you I don’t mind getting bitten.”

Did she know her eyes got slitted pupils and red when she was hungry? 

“I’m sorry.” She locked those same eyes on his, making him blush.

“I don’t miiiiind,” he smiled, leaning in. “Where were we?”

Her hand on his mouth told him otherwise. Had he killed the mood completely?

“Are you sure?”

He would say yes to anything those eyes asked him, but he nodded to let her know he agreed to this particular thing.

“If you want to stop, I’ll stop.”

He nodded again, one hand cupping her cheek. If he dared, he could touch one fang with his thumb, but he settled with caressing her cheeks. There was smudged blood on her skin. He looked at her eyes again, finding only concern as she searched his face. Even when thirsty and having tasted blood, she worried about him.

He would trust her with his life. Anytime.

She let go, seemingly finding what she was looking for. “Okay, weirdo.”

Sebastian struck his tongue out, not expecting her to take the bait and playfully bite his tongue, trapping it into her mouth. It still hurt when she played with it, but he was much more focused on how this time she guided him to the places he wouldn’t get hurt in her mouth, following him as he traced her fangs carefully.

When they parted he noticed how her eyes were even more red, her fangs fully elongated, and Liz was panting, looking at his mouth, which tasted heavily of blood. 

“Hungry?”

She leaned her head in, her forehead landing in his shoulder. “Very,” she sighed. “And you are not helping.”

“I told you -”

“Yeah, I know.”

He waited a few seconds, taking the moment to control his breathing. When she didn’t add anything else he had to ask. “Why resist? Does it bother you that much?”

She had said it made her feel bad to ‘use’ him, but this seemed like something else.

“I… don’t know.” She sighed again, her breath almost cold in his heated skin. “It’s weird. People don't come up to me and offer their blood willingly.”

“Is it offensive?”

“No, just weird. Maybe it’s just me, that I’m not used to willing donors. Never saw the appeal.”

He chuckled. “Maybe I should help you get used to it, then.”

She didn’t say anything, her hand moving up. Soon he felt her push down his t-shirt, feeling a bit awkward when the collar digged uncomfortably on the other side of his neck. He pushed her gently to make enough room to get rid of the garment, absolutely ready to face the consequences of finding himself half-naked in her bed.

Focus on the hungry vampire, he told himself.

“Thanks,” he heard her whisper. Her mouth went to the place she bit the last time, gently kissing the healed puncture wounds. “Here is okay?”

Sebastian half-shrugged in response. His heart was beating fast with anticipation. He may be liking this a bit too much. If she noticed something going on in his pants, she didn’t make a comment.

“Ok, be still. This time I won’t take that much,” she warned. He nodded again in understanding, closing his eyes, waiting for the pain.

But it didn’t come; instead, he felt her other hand go down his chest, softly, the point of her nails barely making contact with his skin. She went up again, this time resting her hand over his heart, making it known she was aware of his rapid heartbeat.

“You really like this, huh?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” he chuckled breathlessly.

“Any other fantasy you’d like me to fulfill?” the way she made her voice go low was downright _illegal._

Two can play at this game. “Claws?” he arched an eyebrow, looking down at her, hoping his smirk told her he was half-joking.

“Oh? You are one of those, then?”

_Wait-_

The nails in his chest suddenly felt firmer, sharper. Oh no. No, no, no. He was joking! Well, not really, but he didn’t think it would actually work!

“Uh…” words weren’t coming to his brain, only a stream of curses and intelligible screams. 

He looked down and yeah, her nails had become something inhuman; sharp claws that seemed capable of slashing him. He looked back at her, finding her chuckling with a wide, gleeful smile, clearly enjoying how his face now resembled a tomato at this point.

“Ready?” she giggled, pushing back his hair with her clawed hand, raking the sharp ends on his cheeks, surely on purpose.

“I hate you.” Sebastian’s breath was hitched.

“Uh-huh,” was her only warning before she grabbed his hair, pulling hard, positioning his head in the perfect angle.

Before he had the chance to enjoy her forcefulness, pain blossomed from his neck, white hot pain that consumed every thought. It lasted maybe a second or two, but it was enough to confirm he hadn’t imagined last time’s pain - it _hurt!_ He may have screamed in pain, he wasn’t sure.

Soon it became more bearable, when the blood started to flow and she began sucking and licking the wound; and just like last time he felt his conscious mind shut down. Pleasure crept from the darkest corners of his brain, igniting every nerve on fire, every sound amplified, every pass of her tongue on his skin the most erotic thing he had ever experienced.

She seemed to be aware of this, since she took her time, one gulp at a time, taking care to suck the red liquid close to his ear, humming in appreciation. Sometimes she pulled his hair, making sure he stayed put, enticing a loud moan when she pulled especially harder one time.

“Ah!”

Liz chuckled against his skin. “Good boy.”

Sebastian shuddered. He hadn’t been exactly subtle about his tastes, but he hadn’t expected her to catch on so soon. He tried to protest, earning a playful bite in retaliation.

He was panting by the time she finally let go, her lips red with his blood and her eyes bright, but satiated. She licked her lips, smiling, watching him squirm under her, and he had never seen something like her in his life.

One of his hands went to cup her face, fascinated with how the fangs retracted slowly back inside her mouth and her eyes phased colors back to deep brown, her pupils rounding with each heartbeat. In the end he was left with the same farmer he had met all those weeks ago, who he initially didn’t know what to think of, but now he couldn’t get enough of.

He hoped she knew how much she had impacted his life in so little time.

“Kiss me?” his voice trembled a bit, but both ignored it.

She did, and she tasted of iron and copper. He breathed in her scent, the vanilla and iron blending perfectly with the taste of her mouth, making him wonder in the back of his mind if there were some common smells between vampires.

He felt her hips shift over his. She _definitely_ could feel his hard-on, now he was sure. She moved again, doing it on purpose.

She kissed him harder, her own hands guiding his towards her hips, then roaming back to his naked chest. When she let his lips go, he breathed deep, his mind not knowing where to focus on; her hips grinding against his or how her lips did a trail down his jaw and his neck, back to the bite, kissing it softly.

“It’s going to hurt,” her voice was coarse.

“I know.”

“No, this will hurt _more_.” She kissed it again.

She grinded again against his cock, making him gasp. “W-Why?”

“First, I took my time,” she kissed the bite. “Second, I didn’t close it with the magical bat saliva, so it will heal slower.” Another kiss.

Sebastian moved his head to give her more space, his hands on her hips venturing up, creeping under her shirt, feeling the skin there. She was cold still, but the closer he went to her chest, the warmer she was.

“Why?”

He felt her smile before she opened her mouth. “Because I want it to bruise.”

His hands froze on the border or her bra. “Did you just- Did you leave a hickey?” his voice went high at the end.

“Of all the things that would freak you out…” she snorted, leaning back, his hands sliding back to her hips.

They looked at each other for a few moments, but then the abandoned laptop screeched, announcing they needed to charge the batteries. Sebastian and Liz started laughing at the situation, how much it had derived from their initial plan.

Liz slumped next to him in the bed, still laughing, letting her hand settle on his chest. Her touch was confident, making circles on his too pale skin. Maybe his mom was right and he should be more under the sun.

Sebastian jumped when her hand crept lower and lower, her fingers barely touching the waistband of his comfy sweatpants.

“Liz?”

She cleared her throat. “I thought, maybe, uh… You helped me, so…” She was blushing, the effects of her fresh feeding starting to appear.

His brain short circuited for a second. Was this happening for real?

“Are you sure?” He had to ask. “You don’t have to, really.”

Liz made a face. “I would feel bad, and like I had been leading you on.”

“What? Why?”

Her hand did another lazy route up and down his torso, her eyes following it. “Because I did all that stuff you liked and I couldn’t leave you like this,” she pointed with her chin towards his noticeable erection.

“But I don’t mind! Really.” He was blushing, but this was an important point he wished to make. “And you don’t owe me anything for offering my blood. I did say I only wanted food.” Sebastian smiled, one hand taking hers, placing both over his chest. 

“Free food, yes,” she smiled, her eyes locking with his.

“So it’s okay.”

“But you are still…”

“Oh, believe me, the mental image is super hot and I would like you to do that, but not because you feel like you ‘owe’ me or anything.”

She looked at him for a few heartbeats, thinking. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. I think I get it. Then I won’t be weird about the biting.”

He smirked. “Fine by me.”

Liz snorted. “Of course you would, emo boy.”

“Hey! I’m not emo! I’m just-” She gave him a _look_. “I did have an emo phase in my teenage years but I’m not like that anymore.”

“Oh yeah?” she arched an eyebrow, “I want to see photos of that.”

“No!”

“Maybe Robin would show me if I ask nicely.”

“Don’t you dare!” he shouted, jumping to stop her hands when she tried to grab her phone. She tried to weasel her way out, but Sebastian was quick and locked her limbs before she could push him away, ending up practically on top of her.

“Are they _that_ embarrassing?”

“ _Very,_ ” he hissed. Back then he didn’t get the hang of dying his own hair and experimented with makeup, ending in a complete fashion disaster. 

“Now I have to see them.” The manic glee in her eyes only announced trouble. “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine?”

She had stopped struggling, having apparently decided that teasing him was more fun.

“Do you even have photos from teenage years? Were those invented yet?” She narrowed her eyes, growling playfully.

“I’m not that old!”

He leaned in, his nose inches from hers. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

“That would then imply that you like older women. Like, _way_ old. Evelyn old.”

Sebastian shuddered. “I didn’t need the mental image.”

“Deal with it.”

They looked at each other, searching for the next jab to throw. Sebastian got distracted with her lips so close to his. When he looked up, he found her doing the same.

“So… wanna make out some more?” she smiled.

He blew away a strand of hair that was in the way. “Duh. Of course.”


End file.
